


Smoke Circle

by mugenii



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cute Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Daichi is a goodie too shoes, Daichi isn't invited to the smoke sesh, Fluff, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Semi Slow Burn, Smoke Sesh, Stonerwara, Suga is a stoner, Tsukishima Kei Being an Asshole, baby stoners, neither is Tsukki, saeko is a dealer, the storage room is a main character, tsukki is an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:01:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28478088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugenii/pseuds/mugenii
Summary: "And what do you think you're all doing?" Sugawara asked with a wry smile on his face, looking down at his junior sharply. As quickly as he had begun to laugh, Yamaguchi fell dead silent as his life passed before his eyes and the grey haired boy above them all seemed to tower higher and higher.Silence and deep tension filled the room for only a few seconds (though to the first year, it felt like hours), before someone finally cracked."Gotcha!" the older boy laughed, finally sitting down amongst the others and successfully chipping away 10 years of the boys young life.--Of the many groups within Kurasuno and its volleyball team, Yamaguchi would have never guessed that weed would be such an unspoken, yet somehow large aspect of his teams downtime. And even more-so, he would have never guessed how much it would help him within the sport. But between Tsukishima catching on to certain changes, and Yamaguchi learning more about himself, things complicate themselves beyond anything he had ever wanted.
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 218





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really open to suggestions- and this is my first ever Haikyuu!! fic too, so please feel free to let me know how it goes :)) I hope someone enjoys!
> 
> DISCLAIMER!! Some of the explanations of smoking are way off and I apologise for this

It was the end of Summer. The Karasuno team had long since decided to train hard for the Spring tournament and redeem themselves for their former loss, however the issue of getting better was far harder for some than it was for others. Yamaguchi Tadashi, first year player, was still milestones behind his teammates and it was more than obvious. Some thought that it was a lack of natural skill, or that he was simply too weak, but Yamaguchi knew the real reason. Pure insecurity in his own skill. 

Those closest to him knew this too, but nobody really knew how deep these worries rooted. How heavy the ball became in his hands when it was his turn to serve, or how much taller his teammates grew when he flunked what should have been an easy toss. Before he joined the Karasuno team, when he was just a kid playing along with his best friend in middle school, his insecurity didn’t worry him. But now it was different- he was different. And more than anything, Yamaguchi wanted to play the game and play it good. 

“Hey Noya,” Tanaka interjected as he stood in the sidelines, collecting balls as they began to close up for the evening. “Is it just me or has Yams been staring at the floor for a really long time?”

“I noticed it too, but I was hoping someone else would speak to him,” Noya replied candidly, looking down at the volleyball he was holding with a mild sense of guilt.

“Dude! Thats super shitty. Yamaguchi is our friend, and even more than that he’s our junior, so its our job to cheer him up. C’mon.” 

The two walked towards the boy as he continued to stare at the ground, the closer they got the more they realised how deeply in a daze he actually was, Yamaguchi not even realising that Tanaka and Noya were standing right in front of him. The two shared looks before gazing back at the first year, his face worried as he held a volleyball in his hands and stared at the nothingness. 

After a brief period, Noya finally snapped. “Hello? Earth to Yams?” 

This seemed to finally bring their teammate out of it, though his clear look of worry stayed unwavering. Tanaka knew that look all too well, and in an instant realised exactly what Yam must have been going through. While he may have been greatly skilled, there was once a point in time where Tanaka had nothing to his name. He didn’t have natural reflexes like Noya and Hinata, or the tactical mind of Sugawara and Tsukki. Back when Tanaka was still getting into the sport, he didn’t even have height. And watching everyone else excel past him, even if it was only brief, hurt more than anything. 

“Hey man,” the short haired boy began. “Don’t worry too hard about where you’re at against anyone else. At the end of the day, when its just you and the ball, all that petty stuff won’t mean anything.”

“Yeah well,” Yamaguchi replied quietly. “I guess that’s easier said than done, right?” And with that, he handed the ball to Noya and walked away. 

The two friends stood silent, shocked solely by the sound of defeat in their teammates voice. Then, as quickly as they fell, the best friends rose to catch up to him, swinging their arms around his shoulder and dragging him so he tilted facing the ground- almost in a forced huddle. 

“That doesn’t sound like the Karasuno spirit, does it, Noya?” Tanaka asked in a fired up voice, the same he used during games or when he was bickering with someone. He was pushing Yamaguchi hard towards the ground, and the first year was finding it difficult to keep his legs from bucking. 

“Not a single bit, Naka,” Noya replied with an equal chipper, pushing him down even more “Sounds to me like we got a giver upper, actually.”

“And you know what we do to giver uppers, right Noya?” Tanaka was smiling wildly, and Yamaguchis face went pale with absolute fear, sweat nearly dripping down his forehead as he struggled to push up against them. 

“Sure do, bro,” Noya was smiling just as wild as Tanaka, and almost as if through mind reading, the two let go of Yam. The first year rose to his feet in a quick yet weak wobble from the sudden loss of tension against him, and struggled to find his balance. Before he could collect himself though, he was in an all new and completely unbearable situation. 

“Tickle time!” The two shouted in unison as they began to tickle the boy who was barely on his feet to begin with. Yamaguchi had no time to run or try and get away, and was instead left to fall to his knees as he laughed at the two, shouting defeatedly for help. 

“Hey!… Hey…. Guys….. Please….. I ….Guys…. Someone…. Help,” he exhaled through laughter, gathering the eyes of his teammates, coaches and managers. Yam couldn’t see any of their expressions, but to sum it up they were all for the most part amused and let it go on for a short while before interjecting. 

“Okay guys, funs over leave Yamaguchi alone,” Daichi ordered. The two continued for a moment longer before letting go of him, however it took a near two minutes for Yamaguchi to collect himself. “Don’t think your little show gives away for the fact that you barely helped in the cleaning by the way.” He smiled as he and Sugawara walked towards the door, bags in hand.

“Wait we’re all done?” Tanaka asked with wide eyes.

“Well, yeah,” Asahi replied. “But I think some people are gonna stay back.” At that, he waved at Hinata and Kageyama, who were arguing on one end of the court. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch them,” Yachi smiled as everyone began to make their way out the doors. 

“Don’t let them stay here too long,” Kiyoko told her, to which the blonde haired girl huffed in understanding like a soldier to her general. 

When Yamaguchi finally got to his feet, he felt far better than he had before, and smiled up at the two second years before him. They smiled back understandingly as they swung their arms around him to walk home. 

“Hey Tsukki, can we have him for the afternoon?” Noya asked back to the far taller boy, who hadn’t seemed responsive at all to the tickling event prior, not even managing a smile through the ordeal. 

“Hm?” He sounded uncaring, looking up only briefly from his phone. “He’s not my dog, he can do what he wants.” And with that, Tsukki went back to his music. 

“Great!” Tanaka smiled at Yam, which made him feel more afraid than comforted. “We’ve totally got the best evening of your life in store. What time do you gotta be home?”

“Uh… I dunno. Nine? I can miss dinner since I do sports but I’d rather not…”

“Dang, for a bunch of first years you guys sure have a lot of freedom. It wasn’t until the end of last year that my parents let me stay out that late- and on a school night no doubt,” Noya replied trying to sound cool. 

“You’re only saying that because you used to be scared of the night time,” Tanaka cackled, making Yams laugh along him. 

“Was not!” Noya blushed as they began to leave the grounds. 

The three boys had walked seperate to the rest of the team, and instead were heading towards a different area from Ukais convenience store which they regularly passed. The rest of the team didn’t seem to notice too much, aside from Suga who had been looking at Yamaguchi for as long as Noya and Tanaka clung to him. They seemed to be headed towards a neighbourhood, but Yam had never been there before. He had to wonder which of the two boys must have lived there, and what they were going to do. They continued to walk and talk about nothing in particular, mainly just listening to Tanaka as he pretended to be a wise old soul with wisdom to bestow upon Yams. 

It was after a full twenty minutes of walking that Yamaguchi finally decided to ask; “Where are we going,”

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for you to ask that, young one,” Tanaka replied, stroking a fake beard. “We are headed to a place most sacred- of which few ever come across.”“Cut the crap, Naka, just tell him,” Noya interjected with a soft punch.

“Fine, fine, jeez. We’re actually going to my sisters place. Well like- not her living place. Just this place she and her friends have. It’ll make more sense when we get there though.”

“What kind of a place is it?” Yam asked. “If she doesn’t live there, I mean,”

“Oh yeah, it’s like… Well… We’re almost there, so its easier to explain when you see it,” he replied. 

Yamaguchi could live with that answer, considering the second year had told him they were close. And so for the remainder of the walk, they just stayed silent, commenting on the things they saw along the way. As far as neighbourhoods went, Yamaguchi thought, this area wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It was of a lower wage group than his own neighbourhood, that much was certain, but it definitely didn’t feel particularly unsafe or dangerous. The kind of place you wouldn’t wanna walk through at night alone, but wouldn’t care so much about in a group. He kept this thought to himself however, considering Tanakas sister apparently had ‘a place’ here.

And that place, when they finally got to it, was interesting. This place was like all others in the area, though the yard was definitely unkept. It was also quite small looking from the outside, but apart from that it was completely average. This opinion of course changed when they actually entered. The first thing that hit Yam was the smell. He’d never smelt anything like it, and he couldn’t say that he enjoyed it either. The two boys seemed unresponsive, and so Yamaguchi tried his best to pretend it wasn’t there- so as not to upset his friends.  
The second thing he noticed was the place itself. It seemed like one massive lounge room with a kitchen and bathroom. He couldn’t seem to find any other doors leading to a bedroom, and it seemed like what was here was what they got. The place looked very comfortable however, but still very strange too. The best way Yamaguchi could explain it was the way some Westerners design their houses with decorations from India, but make it look very non Indian at the same time. This was another sentiment he didn’t want to share, so as not to upset his friends. 

“It’s… Nice,” Yams finally spoke after a period of silence. 

“You’re probably not impressed right now, but this is the coolest place in the world,” Noya said, making his way to the kitchen. “Just sit down and trust your big bro’s.”

Disgruntled, Yamaguchi followed Noyas instructions and sat on a cushion on the floor with his back towards the kitchen, facing the small table in the centre of the room. The table was wooden and very scratched up, with a large tray on the centre and small ornamental boxes on it. 

“So Yammy,” Tanaka began, taking a seat across him. “You wanna know why you’re here?”

“Because… I’m a giver upper?” 

Tanaka chuckled as he leaned back against the wall. “No dude, its because your problem is totally clear- especially to me. You’re high strung.”

“High strung?”

“Yeah. Its super obvious when you play, and even more obvious ever since we lost to Aoba Johsai. I bet you’re even high strung in class, right?”

Yamaguchi thought about this for a second, even though the answer was very obvious. He was high strung. There was absolutely no doubting it, but still the puzzle pieces were yet to come together for the solution. Picking up on this, Tanaka continued. 

“Look. Noya and I are gonna suggest something and its totally your choice. We aren’t gonna pressure you or make you feel bad or anything. We’re your big bros and your teammates, get that?”

Yams nodded. 

“This place of my sisters, it’s where we come to smoke up. And before you get all high and mighty on us, we are very strict about it here okay. No smoking before big games or even before training. It’s only during down time, alright? And its top secret too so even if you choose not to your sworn to secrecy anyways. And look, you’re probably thinking ‘Wow Tanaka, I really used to look up to you’ or ‘this is really disappointing to see’, but the reality is sometimes we need to just-“

“Can I smoke too?”

“Come again?” Tanaka asked, his jaw practically on the ground in surprise.

“Well it helps you relax and like you said, I’m high strung. So can I try it? I didn’t bring any money though but I can run home and-“

“No, no, no, no don’t worry about money. At least not right now! You’re our guest and we’re trying to help you. But still, do you really wanna do this?” Tanaka asked with genuine concern. 

“Yeah I think so. I mean maybe its bad but like… It’s not like its as bad as cigarettes, right?”

“Hear that, Noya,” Tanaka said with a tear in his eyes. “He’s wise beyond his years this one.”

“Save your sob stories for later, dude, lets get this party started!” Noya exclaimed, rushing to the small table with a bowl of chips and what Yamaguchi understood to be a bong. The first years ears began to redden as he looked at the ornament. It was just like in the movies he saw and the videos he watched in middle school. This one was clear glass, but dark in some areas from where the lighter had been held. While Yam understood somewhat the function of a bong, there was still lots to learn and so the boy sat quiet and observed. 

“Since its your first time you’ll either get super high or it won’t work- no in-between. So you can take it easy while the masters lead you alright?” Tanaka smiled. 

“You’ll totally be a natural by the way, just don’t freak out or anything we’re safe here,” Noya added. 

Yamaguchi nodded in understanding and watched as Noya opened one of the ornamental boxes and pulled out a jar with the dried herbs inside of it. It wasn’t as finely chopped up as Yams thought it would be, and as Noya pinched a small piece out and put it in the blackened end of the bong, Yamaguchi wondered exactly how it all worked- how much to put in and the differences between bongs and everything else. In due time, I guess he’d ask the boys, but for now he stayed quiet and watched. From the very same box, Noya pulled out a bright pink lighter with a bedazzled ’S’ on it in black rhinestones. It looked tacky, like something a middle school girls phone would look like, but it did the job. He watched as Noya held the light against the herb and breathed in, observing the bubbles and smoke alike grow inside of the contraption. And then, while it seemed like he was at his limit despite the large amount of smoke still inside, Noya took a sharp and deep breath inwards, taking in the remainder of all the smoke, holding it all in for perhaps 5 or 6 seconds and then exhaling slowly; masses of smoke now surrounding the room. 

The entire feat left Yamaguchi stoked. It seemed so impressive and yet very logical too. They were all sports people. Even Yamaguchi had a fair lung capacity as the runt of the team, so of course stuff like this was possible. Moving on, Noya passed the bong to Tanaka, who took small breaths from the remainder of what was inside, before pinching a new piece and repeating the same process as Noya- except doing it in two intervals instead of a single long one, and holding them both in for about 15 seconds. 

By the time Tanaka was done, Noya’s eyes had already began to lower, though he seemed fairly the same. 

“Ok big guy, its your turn now,” Noya smiled. 

“And don’t stress, its easy. I’ll hold the lighter for you, all you need to do is breathe. And not too hard. Think of it like drinking a soda or something. It should feel natural,” Tanaka added on, leaning over the table. “And don’t try and hold it in if you can’t, alright.”

Yamaguchi didn’t know what he must have looked like to them, but in that moment he was more frightened than anything else. The least he could hope for would be doing it wrong and messing it up, but more than that Yams wondered whether this really was right for him. I mean it wasn’t like it was dangerous, but what if he really liked it? And what if Tsukishima found out about this? Those were the things that circled Yamaguchis mind as the piece connected to his lips and the bong was ignited. 

And then, as quickly as the thoughts swirled up, they disappeared as inhaling the smoke became Yams’ top priority. He realised Tanaka was right, it did feel natural. It felt like breathing, but fun. Just as the thought crossed his mind, a smile spread on his lips and he made a gap between the device, stopping the process.

“Don’t worry dude, just restart. Come on, before the smoke disappears!” Noya cheered on. Yams quickly reconnected to the bong and started where he ended, inhaling more and more until he began to feel like there was a vacuum forming against it. He looked down and found the bong was full of smoke, just like with Noya. And then, releasing himself slightly, he went back in and breathed it all at once just as the libero had done before. 

Yamaguchi sat on his seat, cheeks puffed out as his mouth and lungs were filled with smoke. He held on for longer than Noya and Tanaka- reaching almost a full 20 seconds before he opened his mouth- the smoke falling out more than being blown as he heaved in and out for air. 

The two second years watched on in amusement as Yams’ breaths pushed more and more smaller puffs of smoke out as he collected himself. 

“Dude, you’re insane!” Noya laughed, bringing the bong back to him and restarting the cycle once again. 

“How do you feel?” Tanaka asked. 

“I don’t know… Dizzy,” Yams answered, unsure if that was the right thing to say. 

“Well yeah that doesn’t surprise me. You practically choked on air for a second,” Tanaka laughed. “I mean, do what you want but I prefer to smoke in smaller bits, it makes it easier to exhale and hold it in. But taking a whole bowl at once and trying to hold it in too? You’re mad.”

“Well you guys didn’t explain how long to hold it in for,” Yamaguchi bit back with a weak smile, beginning to feel the effects. Tanaka agreed with him on that and took the bong from Noya, taking a hit just as he had done before. When he was done, however, he put the bong on the table.

“You look like you’re the type to get super high, so you’re gonna take it easy. Can’t have little bro greened out,”

“What does that mean?” Yams asked. 

“You pretty much just get sick. Spewing, dizzy, all that. Don’t worry though you won’t get it now, we’re just being safe.”

“I feel like you guys think I’m going to be paranoid or something,” Yamaguchi said, not even realising he said it either as he stared at the bong in a daze. 

Only ten minutes had passed, but the three boys were slowly beginning to feel the effects hit them. 

As if following some kind of a schedule, Tanaka instinctively passed the bong over to Noya with the bedazzled pink lighter and restarted the cycle, doing their same different kinds of smoking that Yamaguchi felt he could become accustomed to seeing. 

“So how often do you guys do this?” Yams asked as the bong got passed back to Tanaka.

“About once a week on a Friday, or sometimes we’ll skip a week. During break we can spend a few days here, but that’s only on the off season, and during tournaments not at all. It also depends on big sis. If her and her friends are here we try not to come since we’re all just trying to relax, but sometimes its fun to be in a big group too.”

“Thats so cool,” Yamaguchi replied as he was handed the bong by Tanaka. “Can I try lighting this by myself?”

“Sure thing. Just don’t go too overboard again, okay?” Tanaka replied, handing the lighter. Yamaguchi took a closer look as he held it- on the other side of the black rhinestone S were puffy stickers of stars and a moon. Very kiddish.

Yams smiled at that. Clearly this lighter was neither Noyas or Tanakas, or it’d have something dumb on it. Moving on, Yamaguchi held the bong to his lips and repeated the process, finding that holding the lighter steady was the hardest part. But he knew he’d get used to it. He didn’t smoke it the same as last time, but instead opted for Tanakas move of two seperate smaller inhalations, as well as finishing off everything on the bottom without realising it. 

As time flew by, the two boys began to teach Yamaguchi more and more about etiquette and what to do, as well as what not to do. It didn’t worry Yams so much, but it did surprise him. He had no idea that smoking could be so stressful, and yet at the same time he enjoyed every minute of it.

It was only half an hour into the initial sesh that Yams had to tap out. He certainly could tell that his mind and body were no longer grounded, and instead felt as though he were floating in the sky. 

“I think this is the widest I’ve ever seen you smile, Yammy,” Tanaka said.

“Am I smiling?” Yams replied, receiving laughter in return that turned into more of a never ending cackle between the three of them. It crept out of nowhere, but such a simple sentence had left Yamaguchi rolling on the floor with tears in his eyes.

Perhaps it was this severe joy, or the fact that he was high beyond reality itself, that had left all the of the boys blissfully unaware that a fourth member had joined their party. 

As Yamaguchi composed himself, he laid on the floor and gazed upwards, only to catch sight of a painfully familiar gaze.

"And what do you think you're all doing?" Sugawara asked with a wry smile on his face, looking down at his junior sharply. Just as quickly as he had begun to laugh, Yamaguchi fell dead silent as his life passed before his eyes and the grey haired boy above them all seemed to tower higher and higher. 

Silence and deep tension filled the room for only a few seconds (though to the first year, it felt like hours), before someone finally cracked. 

"Gotcha!" the older boy laughed, finally sitting down close beside Yamaguchi the others and successfully chipping away 10 years of the boys young life. 

“I- I…. THEY FORCED ME SUGA I PROMISE!” Yams blurted out. 

“Hey!” Tanaka and Noya shouted in unison. “Thats total bullshit, and besides Suga is cool. I mean whose stuff do you think this is anyways.” Tanaka said. 

Yamaguchi fell silent at this as he looked between his esteemed senior and the two second years, finding it hard to digest what Tanaka had just suggested before it finally clicked.

“The bedazzled lighter… so you’re the middle school girl?!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of a filler than anything else.

“Middle school girl?!” Suga exclaimed in defeat, wiping a fake tear from my eye. “Just because my lighter is fun doesn’t mean its girly, okay! Besides, I change it around anyways.”

“Dude, you’re so defensive,” Noya mumbled as Suga brought the bong towards himself and prepared himself a bowl. 

“Who wouldn’t be after having their possessions insulted,” Suga replied, cutting himself off to take a long hit from the bong. If Yamaguchi thought Noya and Tanaka were impressive, he was absolutely dumbfounded as he watched Suga take in the entire bowl only in a matter of seconds, holding it in longer than it took him to take the hit before exhaling in an incredibly slow stream. Suga could see the look on Yams’ face too, and turned to him sweetly to smile. “Bet I don’t seem so middle school girlish to you now, huh.”

“I… Yeah,” was all Yamaguchi could manage. The words were in his mind. He wanted to say sorry, and to tell Suga he looked super cool. But all he could manage were slight mumbles as he continued to process the fact that his senior and vice captain was here.

“Don’t stress too hard, Yams, Im here to join you guys. I’m sure these two explained all the rules though,” Suga said. “But by the look on your face I’m assuming they forgot to say who exactly knew about this spot and who didn’t, so I’ll do the honours before I can’t. All you need to know is that anyone that isn’t in this room, or isn’t Asahi or Daichi, does not know anything. And even then- do not speak to Asahi or Daichi. If they find out that a first year is with us they’ll kill us all.”

Yamaguchi gulped. “Okay… But why?”

“Well,” Suga began, a soft smile growing as he prepared himself a second bowl. “Its because they’re both big babies.”This comment had the three boys laughing in response as Suga began to smoke a second bowl to himself. The somewhat sizeable bag that they had begun with was slowly coming to a finish, and Yams was left to wonder how much it must have costed- and where in the world you would find it no doubt. But the time for questions had long since passed, and now they were just boys having fun. 

Within 20 minutes and rapid pacing, Suga had reached their level. The four boys didn’t have too much to talk about, mainly volleyball and school. The most amusing of the conversations however being which members of other teams they reckoned also smoked. Yamaguchi was surprised to learn that both Taketora and Kenma from Nekoma were regular smokers, but not too surprised when he really thought about the two. Perhaps it was more the thought of them smoking together the way the four boys currently were. He could imagine Kenma in his room alone smoking better though. 

Over the next three hours the four boys continuously talked and joked to one another about whatever it is they could. Yamaguchi learnt that the place they were at was actually owned by a friend of Saekos, and that he actually lived in Tokyo. Yams didn’t get too into why this person didn’t want to just sell the property and instead left it to be ruined by high schoolers, but it was more than obvious that this wouldn’t be his last time here, so he saved that for later. It was nearly 8 in the evening when the high had finally begun to fade away. They had since eaten a fair amount of snacks as well as turned on the radio to listen to whatever mindless broadcast they could find. None of them were sober enough to question the fact that the broadcast was in English, but Suga and Yamaguchi could pick up enough that the language difference went right over their heads.

It was around 8:30 that the boys finally decided that they may just be sober. 

“How do you feel, Yams?” Tanaka asked, rising to his feet to stretch and stare out the window as it darkened.

“I feel fine, I think. How do you feel?” Yams asked back. 

“Brilliant, I am not going to lie,” he replied, walking towards the bathroom with a clearly stiff leg.

“Did you enjoy today?” Sugawara asked as Tanaka exited. 

“Yeah. A lot actually. I’d really like to do this again if you guys would let me. And I’ll also pay too! I’m very grateful that you’ve let me into your circle,” Yamaguchi replied, bowing his head curtly to Suga. 

“Don’t worry about paying anyone for now. But you’re definitely welcome here. Its good to know my memory will live on past Tanaka and Noya. Who knows, one day maybe you’ll be bringing your juniors here,” Sugawara smiled. “But even still, you don’t feel bad or anything?”

It didn’t surprise Yamaguchi that Suga was still being fairly cautious and worried, and honestly Yams sort of enjoyed it. He liked his seniors a lot, because every single one of them in their own way managed to act like an older brother- sometimes even a parent- in the best ways possible. 

“I feel the best I have in a really long time if I’m being honest. I feel like I can actually do things. Even though I’m not even high anymore, I still feel a sort of confidence… Like everythings going to be okay from here on out.”

Suga smiled warmly at hearing this, wrapping an arm around the first hears shoulder and bringing him in for a hug. “Shame it took you all this to realise it, but you are gonna be fine Yams. You got the team, but you also have yourself. Come Monday, you’re gonna be a brand new guy, alright?”

Yamaguchi agreed cheerfully at that, just as Tanaka returned, defiantly stating that it was time for them all to go home. Slowly, they all cleaned up after themselves and made their way back from where they came. They all walked in the same direction- towards school- before Noya broke off to go home. He seemed back to his energetic self as he began to jog in the direction of his house, leaving the three behind. Then was Tanaka, who turned off into his street and waved the two behind. Finally it was just Sugawara and Yamaguchi, both headed in the same direction in silence.

“So why did you start?” Yams asked, to fill the silence. 

“Sort of the same reason as you. Not so much about sports though, but when I entered high school I felt like I was just working towards graduation and the only thing that mattered were grades. And because our volleyball team was… well, not too great, I didn’t have an outlet. Asahi had drawing, and Daichi has always been pretty well rounded anyways. For me, it seemed easy to smoke my problems away. It was actually how I met Saeko,” Sugawara answered casually.

“So you knew Saeko before you knew Tanaka?” Yamaguchi asked in response. 

“Yeah. I didn’t even know they were siblings until our first tournament game in my second year. She showed up cheering for him and Noya, and when she saw me she totally pretended not to know me. Its funny because I ended up becoming Tanakas tutor anyways, and soon after he joined Saeko and I’s little club,”

“Tanakas sister is really cool. I get why you became friends with her,” Yams commented. While he’d never spoken to her, she was always so supportive of the team whenever events were going on. They continued to walk until they reached the street Yamaguchi was to head down. “Well, this is me. I’ll see you on Monday?”

“Yeah see you,” Suga smiled. Yams began to walk away with a simple wave, before he felt a hand grab his shoulder, turning to see Suga stop him. “But really Yamaguchi, don’t let Daichi find out, alright?”

He nodded in return. It was just about dark when he reached his front door, and his parents didn’t seem to pay too much mind to his late arrival. They asked how school was, and how training was, and Yamaguchi answered as he set down his bag and sat at the table. Apparently they had dinner without him, but had left a bowl by the kitchen where he ate as his mother cleaned. Anyone who had seen his mom would know where Yams got his looks from. She was shorter than him, but had that same faded brown hair and freckles that he had. She was also fairly tanned despite not spending too much outside, but Yams was exactly the same. 

“I thought you’d be home earlier. I could have sworn I saw Tsukki outside this afternoon,” his mother mentioned. Yams looked up in wonder, but returned his eyes back to his food. If Tsukki knew that Yams wasn’t home, he wouldn’t bother stopping by. And it wasn’t like he’d left anything from his last visit. 

“Yeah he didn’t stay back for training today, we were just playing around for fun really so he wanted to go home,” Yamaguchi lied with ease. He was used to lying to his mother. Never about anything as big as this, but all the little white lies of his childhood were to pay off somehow, right? 

“That sounds like him. Such a sulky boy, isn’t he?” 

“He just doesn’t like to waste time, that’s all. I think he’s coming around tomorrow though to study, if that’s alright,” this time Yams wasn’t lying- Tsukki was supposed to come over to study and play games. While the two hung out every day, it was rare for them to spend time on weekends. They were both fairly studious, and neither of them found much fun in going out. It was more likely that they’d call while playing games online than actually hang out in person. 

“When have I ever declined Kei from my house?” Yams’ mom smiled. That much was true, Yamaguchis mother, despite all judgement, welcomed Tsukki into her home with open arms no matter what- he was practically her second son. 

Finishing up his meal, Yams decided to finally check his phone to message the very friend that was subject to the current conversation. This was the first day in perhaps 2 years that they hadn’t walked home together, and Yams couldn’t help but wonder if his friend got home safe (not that there was any chance he wouldn’t), but when he opened the chat, he found that Tsukki was already typing out a message. 

Good timing, he thought as he observed the three dots casually as he took a final taste of the curry, but finding frustration in that Tsukki wasn’t actually sending anything. 

8:52pm  
tada!! shi  
-?

He sent, watching as the dots halted at once.

o-kei  
-Am I still invited over tomorrow?  
tada!! shi  
-of course !! did something happen? whats up?

o-kei  
-Nothing wrong, just checking. Will see you then.

tada!! shi  
-\\( ﾟヮﾟ)/

“Well that was weird,” Yams mumbled to himself, rising from his seat and cleaning his plate up. That night, he couldn’t help but worry about Tsukishima. He would be absolutely livid if he found out about Yams’ new found liking- and not in a normal people way either. He’d be angry in the Tsukishima way where he pretends everything is fine and then ignores you for 2 weeks. When they were still in elementary school, Yamaguchi brought the last jelly from their schools canteen and Tsukki didn’t speak to him for 3 days. For children, that was a painfully long time- and as they got older Tsukkis silent treatment only grew longer. Though to be fair, they hadn’t had any sort of a fight since junior high when Yams thought it would be fun to post a photo of Tsukki in a dinosaur outfit from when they were kids. The photo had long since been deleted, but Yams still looked at it every once in awhile for a quick giggle. 

tada!! shi  
-by the way, did u get home safe?

o-kei  
-Do you think I’m a moron?

tada!! shi  
-no, i’m just a good friend  
-anyways, goodnight !!  
-see you tomorrow !

o-kei  
-Night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it goes without saying- Yamaguchi made the nicknames in their chat.


	3. Chapter 3

The day felt awkward. It was unlike the usual hanging out between Yams and Tsukki, it felt wrong. And Yamaguchi was more than certain that Tsukishima felt it in the air too. It had nothing much to do with what Yams ended up getting up to, and more the fact that for the first time in awhile their routine had been halted, and the reason for which was completely unknown to Tsukishima. 

It wasn’t that Tsukki was obsessed with the happenings in his friends life either, for the most part he had little to no care in what Yams got up to in his free time, and this wasn’t any different. But still, like a shallow summary of a moment in history, Tsukki couldn’t help but wonder what more there could be to his best friends little outing. And so, in the midst of simply sitting on his best friends floor, he decided to say something. 

“So what did you get up to yesterday?”

Yamaguchi halted. Shit. He thought. Shit shit shit- what do I say? He couldn’t just lie to his friend, that’d be too difficult, and yet the question had completely caught him off guard. It was Tsukki, he never asked anything and yet here he was asking SOMETHING. It was a nightmare if Yams had ever seen one. 

“Actually… Nevermind, I don’t care.” Tsukki added after a long pause. 

“Oh no I wasn’t avoiding, its just that I don’t really know what to say? We just walked I guess. I’m sorry,” Yamaguchi replied, his ears feeling hot in shame.

“Why are you sorry?” He replied in a very specific condescending tone that he knew would annoy Tadashi the most, and keeping his eyes on his phone.

“You know what I mean, stop being annoying. But we didn’t do much, they were just in the mood to hang out,” Yams replied, rolling from his bed to the ground so that he laid alongside Tsukki, looking up at him. “And what did you do yesterday? My mom thought she saw you outside… Stalking me?”

Now Tsukkis ears went red. “You wish, I went straight home… She must have been seeing things, besides you were out so visiting would have been a waste of time.”  
Even though they were bickering, Yamaguchi couldn’t help but feel that there was something off about Tsukkis response, but he chose to move on. “Well anyways, you came here to study so I suppose we should do that.”

“Yeah I suppose we should,” and with that, they got to work. 

They studied for a complete 2 hours with little to no real breaks. No phone time, and no chatting. They were good like that. Even though Tsukki and Yams could be quite different, they both enjoyed silence and reading, and neither had ever said it out loud but they also liked the company of knowing they weren’t alone in doing it. Yamaguchi was hard at work doing maths equations, only looking up every once in awhile to punch numbers in his calculators to check them through. They were in a higher level of maths than Kageyama and Hinata, but that didn’t mean that they were instantly great. Though Tsukki was a natural with maths, Yams often struggled- especially in that moment as he felt a gaze fall onto him. 

Looking up, he found Tsukki staring intently at his work, as if he’d been deep in focus for the longest time, but Yamaguchi couldn’t help but feel looked at when he turned his eyes away. Moments would pass and he’d feel a gaze back on him again- turn to Tsukki who sat across from him, and find him hard at work. 

“Are you messing with me dude?” Yams finally answered. 

“What are you talking about?” Tsukki replied cluelessly.

“I can feel you staring at me, don’t pretend,”

“Are we really doing the stalker joke again? Or do you really think I’m staring at you?” Tsukki asked annoyedly. Yamaguchis face fell flat in embarrassment- obviously Tsukki wouldn’t be staring at him. 

“Nevermind then. I must just be stressed, do you want something to drink?” He asked, Tsukkis eyes still close on his book.

“Just some water, please,” Tsukki replied, his voice softer now as if realising his own rudeness as his friend left briefly. Upon Yams arrival a short second later, Tsukki was now laying on his belly, looking at his phone. “Break time,” he mumbled as Yams sat the drink beside him and took a seat beside him to see what he was looking at. The blonde was just scrolling though social media mindlessly, looking at various posts, never really liking them. He even passed a selfie of Yachi and Hinata and ignored it blatantly.

“You aren’t going to like that?” Yamaguchi asked, shifting so that he was laying on his belly too, as close to his friend as could possibly be to look at the phone. 

“What are you, the selfie police?” Tsukki joked, his ears going back to the bright red colour they were earlier. 

“If I were the selfie police I wouldn’t hang around an ugly like you,” he joked back, nudging his friend to the side.

“You’re one to talk, freckles,” Tsukki retorted.

“Says the four eyes,” Yams replied, starting an all out insult war.

“Says the shortie,”

“Says the string bean,”

“At least I can block,”

“At least I can carry a conversation,”

“You sure? Because I find you quite boring,” Tsukki shot back.

“No you don’t,”

“Yes I do,” he retorted.

“If you find me boring then go home,” Yams smiled.

“Fine then I will,” Tsukki frowned, but refused to move too. The two instead just laid still on the ground beside each other. Yams laid his head on his arms with a cocky smile, pressing his face against his friends arm softly. He couldn’t see it, but Tsukishimas face was so bright red it was almost sickly.

“You aren’t leaving,” he said with his eyes closed.

“You’ve only won because I let you, you know,” Tsukki finally replied, laying down too with his face buried in his arms. Yams was still facing his friend as comfortably as ever, happy that there was no longer any tension between them. “Hey Tadashi,” Tsukki began. “We need to study.”

“You started your break first, I still have a minute,” Yams said, though his eyes were clearly heavy. 2 hours was not enough study time, but it was the weekend and he felt as though his sleepiness was justified. His room was cozy, and Tsukkis body beside him felt warm and welcoming. 

“You’re going to sleep, aren’t you?” Tsukki said. His face was still red, but Yams had his eyes fully shut. 

“No just a nap, but I’ll lay in the bed. You can nap too if you’d like,”

“You always do this, you know. You can’t just nap every time you’re tired of studying,”

It was true. Often, and especially during the winter, Yams would fall asleep laying on Tsukki instead of doing his work. He always said it was because Tsukki was warm, which nobody in the world would actually agree with. 

Yamaguchi eventually rose to his feet and shifted to his bed, laying on the end so he could still watch his friend study. Tsukki, however, only read for another few minutes before caving in and napping too. It wasn’t because he was tired at all however, it was because he simply enjoyed napping with his friend. Though, he would never admit it. 

Yams slept easily once Tsukki was beside him, rolling over to press his face against his friends shirt. Perhaps some people would find it weird for two friends to do something so intimate, but it was one of those gestures that just felt homely to Yams. And as he slept soundly, he stayed totally oblivious to the completely red Tsukishima beside him, whose only thought was how pretty his best friend looked while he slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll say it- knowing which names to use is so fuckign hard. anyways ik this one isn't much but enjoy


	4. Chapter 4

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A deep breath in… Pause… Out…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tsukishima stared out his window idly, tapping his pen against the paper in a small rhythm, oblivious to the pen stains he was leaving on his notes. It wasn’t like him at all to be so concerned for another person, and yet the curiosity was killing him. It was the fourth time that Yamaguchi had opted to go home with Tanaka and Noya instead of him, and while jealousy wasn’t the feeling he felt, it still irked him to wonder what they could have all been up to. It was such a weird grouping of people- not just to Tsukki, but to the rest of the team too who had also come to realise the new routine they had. It was always on a Friday, but last week it was also Thursday. He tried to wonder what the correlation was, and the best he could come up with was extra practice- which didn’t make sense considering they could stay back at the gym for it. 

Curious indeed, and yet Tsukki said nothing so far. He wasn’t one to dwell in other peoples lives. He was too cool for that, too resolved… But still, an hour had passed and he hadn’t made a dent into his homework. 

“I guess a walk never killed me,” he mumbled to himself, putting his headphones on and strolling out of the house to nowhere in particular. 

-

A deep breath in… Pause… Out…

Smoking was soon becoming second nature to Tadashi as he inhaled calmly, with a sense of purpose to the action. He, Noya, Tanaka and Suga were far gone at this point- only an hour into the afternoon and completely red eyed and giggly. Tadashi placed the bong on the centre of the table, suddenly forgetting which way the rotation was and not wanting to make a fool of himself. None of the others seemed to notice too much anyways as they all looked out the sliding door of the little house. 

“We should play a game of volleyball,” Noya suggested out of the blue. He would have barely been able to stand if he tried, let alone play a sport. 

“We are not doing that,” Suga replied quickly, rolling on his side to look at his phone. Silence crept up on the group in no time- not a bad silence either, just the kind where there’s nothing needed to be said to make things feel alright. It was comfortable, and as Tadashi let the high crawl up his body he felt so at ease it almost circled into discomfort.   
I wonder what Tsukkis doing? He thought briefly, only for the trail to be cut off by a loud cackle.

“Guys!” Suga exclaimed through defeated breath, laughing so loudly he fell to the side of the ground and began dry heaving, his smartphone steadily in his hands. “Look at this… Sawa sent it to me!”

The boys crawled to their friend in his crippled laughter, Tanaka grabbing the phone to take a look. 

“What…. Is this?” He began, his eyes slowly widening as he began to realise what he said, and then finally beginning to giggle. Noya was right behind him in it, the two of them feeding each others laughter, as well as laughing at Sugawara too. Tadashi finally got the phone off of Tanaka, and analysed the photograph for himself.

It was Kageyama…. And he was completely tangled in the net. Hinata stood beside him, an arm around where his shoulder was as well as throwing up a thumbs up as Daichi took a selfie. It was ridiculous, and Kageyama looked pissed, but at the same time it was so ridiculous that he’d even gotten in that situation. The photo itself wasn’t even that funny to laugh at, but Tadashi burst into an uncontrollable spasm of giggling that only continued as the other three laughed too. They were on the floor for far too long- making a half assed comment every once in a while to continue the laughing until they were all in pain. As if training wasn’t hard enough, their abs were completely tender from how much humour they managed to find out of the situation. 

“Guys….” Suga began, his face so bright red and his eyes so swollen from tears he was barely recognisable. “Guys we need to chill.”

“Dude we are chill,” Noya giggled, rolling around as he giggled too.

“We are not chill Noya,” Tanaka added in, catching his breath as he leaned against the wall. Tadashi stayed quiet. While he could be talkative when he was like this, his high self wasn’t too different to his sober self.

“We’re chill enough. I bet I could go home right now and nobody would bat an eye,” Noya retorted, crossing his arms triumphantly.

“I mean you’d definitely get a bat, but where it’d be aimed at is a different story,” Tadashi joked, receiving a round of laughs from everyone except Noya.

“Thats rich coming from you Mr. See-You-Tomorrow-Tsukki,” the shorter boy shot back.

Tadashi raised an eyebrow, “Whats that got to do with anything bro?”

“Don’t play silly dude, it’s totally obvious that you’re hiding this from Tsukki because you don’t wanna get in trouble,”

“Isn’t that all of us with the team, though?” He smirked back, feeling like he achieved something with that rebuttal. 

“Well,” Noya began, smirking back. “The rest of the team isn’t thinking about f-“

“NOYA!” Suga smiled brightly, pulling him for a borderline violent hug. “Lets think before we speak.”

“I wanna hear what he had to say,” Tadashi replied cluelessly.

“It was vulgar anyways… Far to vulgar for a first year,” Suga said sharply, shooting a dark look to Noya. “What Noya was trying to say was-“

“That nobody in the team likes us,” Tanaka finished.

“Exactly- hey!” Suga snapped. “I’ll have you know lots of people like me!”

“Yeah but nobody in the team is thinking of giving you kissy kissys the way Tsukki is for Tadashi,” Noya replied. Suga went silent, and his cheeks grew red only briefly before coming back to the conversation.

“Dude, Tsukki is my best friend that’s so weird,” Tadashi said shyly. His face was bright red with concern and wonder. Did his friends really think that of he and Tsukkis friendship?

“Whatever you say man- but listen to your big brothers when we tell you- he is totally trying to smash lips,” Tanaka smiled, giggling for a moment before bringing the bong over to him and filling himself a bowl. 

The conversation more or less ended there, though Noya continued to make jokes throughout the afternoon until it was time to leave. Unlike usual, Tadashi left before everyone else did, deciding that he was hungry and in the mood to go home. While for a breif moment they wondered if he was upset about what they’d said, he reassured them that it was more amusing. 

That was the good thing about Tadashi, the boys said when he wasn’t around, while he seemed sensitive on the surface level he could take more than the average person when it came to teasing. Though they supposed that would be an understandable outcome being around someone with as much sass as Tsukishima. 

—

Tadashi walked home with an odd pacing. He didn’t want to be too fast that he was suspicious, but walking too slowly felt wrong. It was simply one of those dilemmas that only happened when you were under the influence of something and suddenly forgot how to act natural. But regardless, he went on his way with ease. He passed Ukais shop at the midway point to home, but didn’t dare brave going in. That was one of the rules he was told early on by Suga- Ukai was a master of delinquency as both an ex of the craft and a store clerk. There was no way he wouldn’t be able to see through them, so they understandably avoided the place at all costs. 

Tsukishima turned the corner idly, only looking up every once in awhile to see if there was anything in front of him. He decided on going to Ukais store to buy some snacks. Maybe having something small to eat through his studies would be distraction enough. He picked a new song to play on his headset and looked up instinctively to see where he was going, catching sight of a familiar figure ahead of him. Tadashi was walking at an odd pace- quickly in small steps, like he was holding in his pee with everything he had while urgently looking for a bathroom stall. 

“Oi!” Tsukki shouted out, waving at his friend nonchalantly. Tadashi stopped in his tracks and stared back, Tsukki soon catching up to his startled friend. His eyes were puffy, and his cheeks were bright red. “Have you been crying again?” 

“Wh- what?” Tadashi stuttered, suddenly forgetting how to act like a normal person.

“Did you get into a fight with Noya and Tanaka or something?” Tsukki asked, almost happy but not quite. Frankly he was quite disturbed by the amount of questions he was asking. “Nevermind. I’m going to the store, you’re going home?”

“I can come to the store if you’d like,” Tadashi replied, plummeting over his friends question and soon realising how absolutely dumb his answer was.

“I don’t care either way, but sure.” And with that, Tadashi turned around and the two went on their way.

The walk was silent and awkward. Tadashi wasn’t himself, and Tsukki didn’t care to initiate the conversation first, but regardless he couldn’t stand the silence either.

“Seriously, are you ok? I can’t fight those two or anything, but I’d like to know if they did something to hurt you,” Tsukki said calmly. The sentiment threw Tadashi off even more and his cheeks grew brighter as he processed it.

“They didn’t do anything, I just…” Tadashi trailed off, internally panicking as he tried to think of something. His blushing really worked to his advantage- as far as Tsukki knew he has been crying. “I saw some ducks.”

“I see. So you were crying over ducks again?” Tsukki replied, looking to his phone for a single moment. “You can’t let such small things get to you so drastically, Tadashi.”

“I know, but they were so cute,” Tadashi said, feeling confident in his lie. He was lucky to have a friend as nonchalant as Tsukki. When they came to the stores entrance, Tadashi refused to enter, deciding that it was safest to not pull the duck lie on coach Ukai. “I’ll stay out here.” He said with a fake confidence. Tsukki only raised his eyebrow once before shrugging it off. 

Sighing in relief, Tadashi stood idly until his friend walked out with two bags of chips and two drinks, handing his friend one of each. Tadashi blushed at this, the conversation he had with his upperclassmen earlier about Tssuki having a crush on him. It was ridiculous, but now he couldn’t help but overthink these sweet gestures and words.

“I’ll walk you home too,” Tsukki said as they continued on. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you but you’re being a pain today.”

Nevermind.

“How am I being a pain?” Tadashi asked.

“Well I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but we’ve been walking half as fast as a normal person, you aren’t speaking properly and you look like a hot mess. Frankly if I didn’t know you well I would have pretended I hadn’t seen you at all,” Tsukki said truthfully.

“Hey that was really rude, dude,” Tadashi replied.

“Since when do you call me dude?” Tsukki responded, looking down at his friend suspiciously. “I don’t care that you hang out with Noya and Tanaka, you know, but you are strange these days.”

“Is it a bad thing?”

“How should I know- I’m not you.”

The rest of the walk home was silent, Tadashis face no longer red, and Tsukkis pace no longer bothering to match with his friends. It wasn’t a fight, but it hurt like one. And had Tadashi known that Tsukki hurt far more than he did, it would have more so eased the pain than anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna update more often but tbh this isn't gonna be a long fic anyways so maybe I can spread it out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I present to you: A chapter where nothing changes

Tadashi and Tsukki weren’t fighting. There was no argument or conflict to even take shape of a fight- and yet they weren’t speaking. Even during practice the tension was at an all time high. They still walked home together, but they didn’t speak then either, instead opting to listening to their own music. It was now a Wednesday and neither of the two were letting up from this non existent fight, their teammates choosing to turn a blind eye on the entire situation so long as it didn’t interfere practice- because unlike Hinata and Shoyo, they were far more civilised about their problems. 

“Hey Kageyama! Wanna stay back and practice?” Hinata asked as he ran around picking up balls. Kageyama only nodded in agreement before the two looked at Daichi and the managers. 

“I’ll stay back,” Yachi said. Yachi always stayed back for the two- so it wasn’t anything new, and she seemed to enjoy it as well. 

“Can I practice too?” Tadashi asked, making point not to look at Tsukki. The three turned and gladly accepted him into the group, the rest of the team slowly breaking away as they left to go home for the day. Tsukki was first to leave, as always, and didn’t turn around to farewell Tadashi at all. 

Shrugging it off, Tadashi and the two other first years got into their training, Tadashi practicing his serves and Kageyama practicing his receives. It worked well having three there, especially for Yachi who didn’t have to worry too hard about tossing balls for them. They continued for a full half an hour doing this- not too hardcore but still enough to stay sweating. When they finally rotated practices, Yachi jumped in to toss for them all. 

“Hey so Yamaguchi, how come you and Tsukkishima aren’t talking?” Yachi asked, her cheeks slightly pink as she worried if she said the wrong thing. 

“I’m not too sure. We didn’t fight but… Really there’s no reason for it, we just are,” 

“But aren’t you guys best friends? Why would you just stop talking?” Hinata asked, tossing back to Kageyama.

“Well you and Kageyama are best friends and you guys fight way worse-““We aren’t best friends!” Kageyama snapped, serving back to Hinata as he spiked. 

“No need to sound so upset at the idea of that,” Hinata scowled, but the taller boy only rolled his eyes. 

Yachi and Tadashi both stifled a laugh at the exchange as they went back to training and chatting lightly. 

“To be honest, I’ve been thinking,” Tadashi finally admitted, tossing the ball into the air and serving it perfectly over the net for Hinata to receive. 

“About?” Hinata replied, passing to Kageyama as he jogged to make a spike, taking barely a second to hit it perfectly back onto Tadashi side of the court. 

“Well Tanaka and Noya said something a few days ago about Tsukki and I can’t really stop thinking about it,” Tadashi wasn’t sure if what he was saying was the right thing to say, or that it’d be well received by his teammates. It was strange, and he wasn’t exactly around people well versed in relationships to begin with. The biggest help out of them would be Yachi and she was terrified of both men and women. 

“We already know he’s a big jerkface, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” Hinata replied, passing the ball to Kageyama for him to set. 

“No it isn’t that… Pretend I didn’t say anything it doesn’t matter,” 

“Sounds good to me,” Kageyama said offhandedly. He and the ginger went right back into their training, but Tadashi was left standing still, doey eyed as he tried to process whether speaking then and there was right or not, eventually deciding to instead call it a day. He continued to train for a few moments longer to leave the aura in the room on a high, but as soon as he felt wrapped up he wasted no time in farewelling his classmates and heading for the door. 

As he walked out the gymnasium, Tadashi opened his phone to new texts from the older boys that had him deep in question. 

Extracurricular Botany

4:52pm  
sugywugy  
-hey guys meet up today? know its a wed but exams are over and we did great!  
-well i did great… lol

Asahis Chihuahua  
-Thats rude, I passed a lot of things….… But sure, Naka?

Baldy   
-HECK YEA. i’ll be a hot second tho, gotta run some errands with sis, she’ll drop me. 

Asahis Chihuahua  
-Say Hi!!!!!!!!

sugywugy:   
-yamaguchi?

Baldy  
-he stayed back to train so he probably won’t see this for a bit. feel free to come when you can little guy. 

-

Tadashi looked up and thought for a moment. He hadn’t smoked since the day he bumped into Tsukki, not that that had to do with anything, but he wanted to feel relief of the stress. And besides, maybe they could help him out a bit in mending whatever dumb rift had started with the two. If only Tsukki would like smoking, it would be good for him. Tadashi thought as he began to type. 

-

Extracurricular Botany

yammy boy   
-all done. you guys there?

Asahis Chihuahua  
-Yea come through. Haven’t even started. Big sis is here. 

-

Smiling, he began his walk. He liked Saeko- she was sweet despite how intimidating she could be at face value. Though they had only smoked together once before, she was fun to be around regardless. 

The walk to the smoking den came and went, and soon enough Tadashi was walking through the front door to find his friends exactly where he expected them to be; sitting around the coffee table high out of their minds. He wasted no real time in joining them as they insisted he catch up and smoke two bowls in one sitting, but knowing that his limits were still very low, he opted to take it easy instead. 

“How was the extra training?” Suga asked, leaning back into his beanbag with comfort. 

“Yeah it was decent. Hows the sesh been?”

Tanaka Ryo giggled. “Yeah alright. Nothing crazy,”

“Though I gotta say, you should listen to some of big sisses stories- she’s insane,”

“Oh shut up, Noya, you’re one to talk,” Tanaka Saeko laughed, punching the smaller boy softly. “I was just telling them about this gig we did with the group- it was all these creepy old giesers. Anyways long story short we had to leave and one of the boys picked a fight with the guy who hired us because they kept oogling at my boobelings.”

“Saeko what the fuck!” Tanaka Ryo cried out, blocking his ears as the other three burst out laughing. 

“No seriously Tanaka(Saeko), why would you call them boobelings,” 

“Please stop,” her younger brother cried, curled up in a ball as he continued to have his ears assaulted with talk about his older sisters boobs. 

“I mean its funnier that way- besides its not like its weird. You guys go shirtless in the gym all the time and I can’t even talk about my badonkers?”

“SAEKO I AM GOING TO KILL YOU AND THEN MYSELF SHUT UP!” 

The rest of the group continued to laugh louder and louder at this, each time shouting out a more ridiculous word for boobs while Ryo Tanaka whined in a ball, tears streaming down his face. Even after the laughter died down, he stayed solemn and sad as he looked at the ground in a deep contemplation, not easing until Suga finally threw his arms around him in comfort. 

The circle started up again as soon as the episode was over, Tadashi taking the first hit and passing it to Noya, who sat right beside him. 

“So I was thinking right,” Tadashi began once the bong got to Suga. “I was gonna bring it up to Hinata and them, but… I figured you guys might be a bit more helpful. Ever since you said that stuff about Tsukki, things have been weird.”

Sugawara raised an eyebrow, and Saeko leaned in with intrigue. 

“We haven’t been speaking, and every time I look at him I wonder if maybe… I dunno,”

“Wait a second. Do you like Tsukki?!” Noya exclaimed, slapping his face both dramatically and out of beat. 

“Well that’s the thing- I hadn’t even thought about it until you guys brought it up… But I don’t see him the same, I don’t think?”  
“And do you think that’s a good thing?” Sugawara asked with a tender tone. 

“I don’t know… Yes? But I like him too much as a friend for me to think too deeply into what started as a joke anyways,”

“Have you spoken to Tsukki about this?” Tanaka Saeko said.

The four boys laughed at Saeko for her comment.

“I don’t think you’ve been around Tsukishima long enough, sis,” Tanaka Ryo said, taking a hit after. 

“Yeah, thanks for the advice but, Tsukki isn’t one for talking,” Tadashi added.

“He sounds like a pussy,” the older girl said, taking the bong as her brother handed it to her. 

“He’s just… Uninterested in a lot of things,” Tadashi offered as a means of understanding. 

“Well why would you like someone like that?” Saeko asked. 

“Because… I guess,” Tadashi was now smiling brightly at this point, and his cheeks were bright red. “He’s interested in me, but he pretends like he isn’t.”

The rest of the group couldn’t help but coo at the youngest there as he smiled at the ground thinking of Tsukki. Friend or Lover, it didn’t matter as he thought about it more. He didn’t need to confront Tsukki about any of that, he just wanted his friend back. 

“This is you guys’ fault, you know,” Tadashi said, finally snapping back to reality with his newfound plan in mind. 

“Yeah yeah, cry us a river,” Suga replied.

—

It was 3am. Tadashi had long since gone home, eaten and gone to bed. He would have remained so if not for the alarm he’d set, and with that his plan finally went into motion. Putting on his shoes and leaving the house as quietly as possible, the young boy jogged his way to Tsukkis, which was not too far at all, and stood outside the front door. 

3:18am

tada!! shi  
-come outside.

…

o-kei  
-What are you doing? It’s 3am.

tada!! shi  
-i wanna talk. come on be cool. 

o-kei  
-You’re so annoying. Coming. 

—

It took around 5 minutes, but sure enough Tsukishima Kei came to the front door and let Tadashi in, closing the door behind him as they went to his room. The two didn’t speak at all until the door was shut behind them.

“So?” Tsukki asked with annoyance. 

“Can we stop with the silent treatment?” Tadashi asked, taking a seat on his bed and sitting across from him directly

“Did you have to wait until 3am to ask me that?”

“It felt more significant that way, like in the movies,” Tadashi admitted, his face turning pink from embarrassment. “Besides, I knew if I came now you wouldn’t have a reason to get rid of me.”

“Sleep is a very good reason, don’t you think?”

“Well you’re the one who texted back,”

Tsukki frowned, and turned his head away from his friend. Tadashi wondered if he was blushing too, or if he was just pissed off. 

“Whats wrong with you, Tadashi?” He asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. And like I said before, I don’t care… But if somethings the matter, then just tell me.”

His voice was soft. Not annoyed or sly the way that it usually was, but instead concerned. 

“You know, its okay to be worried about other people… But, I’m fine, really. If you’re angry at me because you’re worried, than its backfiring. Because the only issue I have right now is that I don’t have my best friend around,” Tadashi said, just as soft as Tsukki spoke. The two sat on the bed in silence, now facing each other directly. Nobody had bothered to turn a light on, but they could see each other clear as day. 

Suddenly but with a sense of purpose, like the ocean to the moon, Tadashi began to lean in to the slender dark figure across from him. He didn’t know what he was doing, but it just felt right. Tsukki didn’t move or flinch, and Tadashi made it all the way to his face- their noses brushing ever so slightly before the dark haired boy attempted to connect-

“I think its time for bed,” Tsukki said in a whisper. His face was bright red and his eyes were wide with wonder and fear. Tadashi leaned back in an instant, his face twice as bright now. 

“I… Yeah… I should probably go back to sleep,” Tadashi replied casually, scratching the back of his head as if he hadn’t just tried to kiss the best friend he’d just made amends with.

“Are you gonna sleep here or are you gonna?”

“I’ll go home!” He exclaimed- not so loudly the house could hear but far louder than they had been talking before. 

“Yeah okay… Lock the door behind you, I’m… I’ll see you tomorrow.

“Will we walk together?”

“I… I’ll see if my mom can drop me,” Tsukki replied, refusing to look his friend in the eye. Tadashi slumped, and turned his back on his friend as he left the bedroom and then his house, jogging back as he forced the tears back up his face.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. The two boys thought in unison as the distance between them grew. Tadashi was stupid for trying to kiss Tsukki, and Tsukki was stupid for rejecting. But more than anything, they were both stupid to have such weak backbone. 

Tsukki wanted nothing more than to know what it was like for Tadashi to reciprocate the feelings he long had, and it was starting to look that way for once and he absolutely blew it.

And Tadashi, well he felt ridiculous for entertaining the idea that Tsukki saw him as anything more than a friend. And now things were probably forever damaged by a single dumb move on his part. 

Needless to say, the two had much to think about as the early morning grew late, circling back to square one of the conflict.


	6. Chapter 6

Another week went by. Training was still training, smoke sessions were still smoke sessions and life was, for the most part, completely normal. In fact, to Sugawara Koshi life was as normal as could be. Sure, his junior was going through some stuff, but it wasn’t anything so major that he had to put a foot down. And while Daichi was growing more and more concerned for the matter, it didn’t take much for Suga to ease his worries. 

The two were currently in the gymnasium- it was a Saturday, and while neither were ones for extra training on the weekends, they had nothing much to do that day. Well, Daichi didn’t. Suga could have been studying or smoking- and he felt he desperately needed to do both, but when Daichi asked if he wanted to train he couldn’t really say no. Suga was currently standing behind Daichi as he tossed to him for a serve. Watching, the captains back muscles flexed instinctively as he recieved the ball and served it for a Sugawara who wasn’t there to spike, instead letting the ball fall to the ground as he remained in his spot eyeing his friend. 

“Suga! Whats wrong?” Daichi asked, snapping Suga out of his trance, blushing as he ran for the ball that was rolling off court. 

“Sorry! I got distracted!” Suga apologised, picking the ball up and facing the other boy.

“By what?” 

Suga face went bright red once more. “I don’t know,” he laughed as his voice trailed off. “Lets just go back to training I’m with it now.”

“If you wanna stop we can stop,” Daichi said softly, taking a step forward to inspect his friend. 

I’ll stop, you keep training and I’ll watch. Suga thought to himself, the redness not easing one bit from his cheeks. Instead, he just walked on to the edge of the court to serve. Daichi went back into motion too, however more skeptical of training and wary of Suga’s current mood. He could deal with cool Suga and playful Suga- but this was a different thing all together and he had no idea how to approach it. 

It wasn’t the first time that Suga got like this, and Daichi knew that. It happened the last time the two of them went out together to get lunch. He couldn’t quite recall what had happened but throughout eating Suga suddenly became tense and his face went red, he lost his cool completely and became a blabbering mess for the second half of the meal. If he was going to be like this, there was no point in continuing training. 

Suga served the ball to Daichi, and Daichi tossed it back out for Suga to spike- which he did with ease. He couldn’t spike the way that Daichi or Asahi could, but he could definitely hold his own and the team knew that. The tension eased as the ball hit the other side of the court, and the two managed to move on from the moment with ease, though Suga still watching his friend whenever he could spare a glance.

Eventually changing positions, Suga was instead in the spot of setter, which came far more naturally to him just as spiking did for Daichi. When he passed the ball over for Suga to set, it was very clear how much power Daichi carried compared to him. Instead of a hard bounce against the ground the way Suga did, Daichis spike plummeted like a meteor to the ground- and it was only just training. While it was easy to overlook him against Asahi and their juniors, Daichi never stopped being a force to be reckoned with, smiling with a clear smugness as he walked away. 

“I still got it for an old guy, huh?” He said as the ball continued to bounce away from them. 

“Don’t go calling yourself old too quick, you’ll be dead before you know it,” Suga giggled, running under the net to collect the ball. 

“Don’t count on it, sweetie,” Daichi laughed back- sending Suga to square one with the unbearable blushing before he could even try to stop himself. “Suga are you okay!” Daichi exclaimed as he ran after him. In a mere moment, the brunette was standing directly in front of his friend, hands on his shoulders in support.

“I… I’m fine,” Suga mumbled, his face so bright there was no stopping it. Frankly, with Daichi hands on him like that he could have passed out.

“You aren’t fine- lets stop here,” his friend replied both sternly but with a soft touch that only Sawamura Daichi could achieve. “You look like you’ve got heatstroke, let me get you some water.” Suga couldn’t bare to admit that it was simply his own bashfulness and romantic feelings that were in the way, and instead stood as Daichi fled and returned in an instant with his waterbottle.   
“Here drink this,” Daichi began, handing the water bottle to Suga.

Daichis… lips touched this. He thought- for a moment he almost believed his nose would begin to bleed. Instead, quite brainlessly too as he stood in a daze, he opened the lid of the bottle and drank directly from the main lip. The water did help surprisingly, and he soon felt as though he could string a few words together without making an absolute fool of himself.

“Thanks dude,” he smiled, handing the bottle back to Daichi. 

“No worries… But honestly, is something wrong?” Daichi asked back. Suga gulped, but pulled himself back together.

“Just dehydrated. You know me- not the brightest that’s for sure.” Suga finally replied, walking to the bench where their bags were. 

“Yeah…” his friend trailed off, watching intently as his friend walked away but soon catching up to him to continue. “Suga can I ask you...” He began, then lowering his voice and leaning closely into Suga’s ear, making the silver haired boy tingle around his neck. “This isn’t some kind of weed thing right?”

Suga’s face went bright red once more, and he reached over for his own bottle this time to drink from it intently. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. 

“I KNEW IT!” Daichi snapped. “You promised me you stopped!” That was true- in the fall of last year Sugawara smoking tendencies exceeded normal, and he did promise both Daichi and Asahi he would stop. While he wasn’t as bad anymore, he couldn’t bare to admit to them he was smoking again; hence the rule that they were never to know about the group activities. 

Daichi angrily stormed off to the storage room, grabbing the ball on his way with Suga right behind him trying to get the words out. He tried different ways to get his friend to slow down with little luck, entering the dark storage room behind him with not a blush from shyness but from frustration. 

“Hear me out for one goddamn second, Daichi,” Suga snapped, standing in front of the door to stop him from getting out. “Yeah I’m smoking again but if you think that’s why I’m being weird its none of your business. Frankly, I’ll have you know that I’ve been smoking for a long time now and I haven’t gotten bad at all so stop being annoying right now!”

“Me? Annoying?!” Daichi raised his voice too, taking a step forward to Suga. “You’re the one blocking the door like a kid, Suga! And if smoking isn’t turning you into a weirdo then what is?! I’ve barely been able to speak a word to you lately without you short circuiting on me- so if it’s some kind of a joke I’d like it to end now.”

“I don’t have to tell you shit!” Suga shouted back, spreading his legs apart and holding the door frame with both his hands as a blockade. “But don’t try and make this into something it isn’t. I’m just weird- so can you leave it at that?”

“Hell no!” Daichi yelled. Taking a step forward, he put his arms around Suga to pull him into the room and get out. He didn’t even know why he came in there in the first place since it was obvious Suga’s move would be to block him in. Holding him in his arms, he turned around and plopped him back on the ground, then turned once more to walk out. 

“Hey don’t walk away from me!” Suga responded, dashing forward to tackle Daichi to the ground. They landed one on top of another- Suga sitting on Daichis back as his body faced the ground. He groaned in discomfort, but didn’t attempt to move from there. “Promise me you’ll stop being annoyed.”

“Fuck no. Promise me you’ll stop smoking,” Daichi replied.

“No way! This isn’t even about smoking to begin with-“

Before he could continue, Daichi had rolled over completely; moving Suga’s body with his like it was as easy as throwing a ball of paper. Now it was Suga, blushing as bright as the sun, below Daichi as the much larger boy looked down at him. Though his eyes were blurry from the overwhelming feelings, he could have sworn Daichis cheeks were pink too. 

“Then tell me what it is about,” Daichi said, much quieter now as if it were a whisper. 

“Don’t pin me on the ground and act like you don’t know,” Suga replied, looking away quiet annoyedly despite how tense the situation was. The two continued to lay in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Suga finally looked at Daichi, whose face was both confused and pink. Suga was just about to make another remark, his lips parting to speak only for them to be silenced by Daichi himself. With wide open eyes, Sugawara processed the feeling he felt in that moment as he barely realised how much he was responding to the kiss. 

The two pressed harder into each other, parting their mouths and rejoining fiercely. Once he finally regained some sense of self, Suga placed his hand around Daichis waist, urging him to come in closer as they continued to make out, finally stopping when Daichi pulled apart. 

“We shouldn’t be doing this,”

“What do you mean?” Suga asked, worry and guilt sinking in. 

“Anyone could walk in right now- we should go into the supply room,” Daichi replied, not even catching the moment of melancholy he’d just put Suga through. Daichi got up first, and helped Sugawara up afterwards, leading him back into the room they had just had their falling out in not 5 minutes ago. He turned to Suga, but it was now the shorter of the twos turn to initiate. Suga took a step forward, pushing Daichi further and further into the corner where a bare wall stand, pressing him into the concrete with purpose as he leaned up to his lips. 

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, you know,” Suga whispered into his ear, playing with his earlobe softly between his teeth for a moment. 

“I think I’ve wanted it for longer,” Daichi whispered back into his neck, placing one hand on his waist and the other firmly against his butt. Softly, Daichi began to kiss upwards of the area, until he was back where Suga’s lips were. Suga reciprocated by kissing Daichi, toying in the middle of their lips with his tongue and shuffling closer to Daichi, pressing his body deeply against the others as their movements intensified with their crave for each others bodies. Seemingly frustrated, Daichi grabbed Suga’s waist and pulled him in as closely as he could possibly come, finally giving in and turning the two over quite like he’d done before so that it was Suga against the wall.

“This is so good,” Daichi mumbled into Suga’s mouth, letting his hands go underneath his shirt and pulling it up over his head. Suga body wasn’t as broad as Daichis, but he was fit and lean and the way his muscles flexed were the most beautiful thing the brunette had ever seen. Suga attempted to do the same to Daichi, but he was stopped by the feeling of being raised. His body was lifted up, legs motioned into wrapping around Daichis torso as he stayed pressed against the wall, now higher than his captain. 

Suga looked down at Daichi and smiled. “You look hot from up here,” he mewled into his ear, coming down to kiss him along the neck the way he’d received before. It was in one particular spot that Sugawara could feel a reaction, the tension in Daichi pants continuing to grow as Suga licked and bit certain spots on Daichis neck. 

“You’ll leave a mark,” Daichi said, trying his hardest not to moan at how incredible it felt for him. 

“They’re embarrassing out of high school, so appreciate it while you can,” Suga replied, continuing on his tirade as he pulled Daichi shirt off and moved towards his collarbone and finding another spot he could feel Daichi strongly react to. “Besides, I think you quite enjoy it.”

“I’d enjoy this more if you were the one moaning,” Daichi replied, kissing Sugawara in the middle of his chest and moving upwards as he began to grind softly against the boy he was holding.

“Then make me.”

—

It was well into the evening when Daichi and Suga finally walked out of the god forsaken storage room. Sugas shirt covered the many markings and bruises that were left on his lower body, his hair standing in as many angles as humanly possible but completely flattened out on the back as well as a mild but obvious limp from everything he’d just experienced. Daichi was far worse off, with marks peeking through his shirt as well as scratches all over his back and upper arms, as well as a large bruise on the side of his jaw from more of an accident than anything sexual. They left the place clean, but there was no doubting that everything they had just done would most definitely get the volleyball team kicked out of the gym permanently if anyone found out.

“That was fun,” Daichi smiled, grabbing a towel from his bag to wipe off the sweat. Smiling too, Suga wrapped his arms around him from behind, peeking through his arms to give Daichi a soft kiss on the chin. 

“Maybe you should pick fights with me more often,” Suga suggested, grabbing his own towel. 

“Keep smoking your brain away and I’ll have to.”

“So you’re saying I just need to get high and you’ll fuck me like that again?” Suga smiled with a cheeky grin, making Daichis face go red. 

“Shut up Suga- and no that’s not what I meant. You’re so vulgar sometimes, you know that,”

“You’re one to talk Mr.Be-A-Good-Boy-And-Suck-My-“

“OKAY NOW!” Daichi shouted, putting a hand against Suga’s mouth as if someone could have heard. Suga only laughed as he witnessed his friend scowling down at him. 

The two packed up quickly enough and made their way out- locking the doors behind them and taking the keys over to Ukais- it was the new system they had in place for weekend and extra training. So long as Ukai was working, you could go in and get the keys and then return them when you were done. You couldn’t finish training after Ukai finished work and you could only train if he said it was okay. Upon entering, their coach was sitting at the register with a fan on his face, smoking a cigarette and reading. 

“How was training?” Coach Ukai asked. He looked up for a moment, then back down to his book before snapping his neck back up to observe Daichi.

“Pretty good. Though captain over here had a pretty nasty fall in the storage room,” Suga replied quickly, catching on to their coaches look. 

“B-But don’t worry! We cleaned it up and nothing was broken!” Daichi blubbered, losing his cool for a single moment before Suga swept back in for support. 

“Well Daichi cleaned it up, no way I was spending my weekend cleaning up that fools mess.”

The statement somehow put Ukai at ease, just as Suga had hoped, but he still kept an eyebrow raised as he watched his two pupils exit the store, wondering and hoping not that something else may have happened. The two made their distance from the store before they began talking properly, out of sheer fear that somehow Ukai could hear them and would chase them down and beat them for doing such things in the storage room. Not that he was sinless in high school. Sugawara thought as they continued on their way. They turned a full corner before they let their talk about the training they didn’t do die down and get to more clearly pressing issues.

“So…” Daichi began, twiddling with the ropes of his jacket as he walked beside Suga.

“So… That was fun,” Suga continued, looking at the sky instead of at the boy beside him.

“Very.”

“We should do it again.”“We should do it constantly,” Daichi joked- his cheeks bright red as he spared a glance to Sugawara.

“Should we… Only do this?” Sugawara asked, looking up to catch his eye.

“Well,” his counterpart began. “We could, but… I mean it when I say I like you.”

“And I like you too.”

“So-“

“Daichi! Suga!” A familiar voice shouted. The two grimaced internally, but turned their heads to face a familiar towering sight. Their smiles grew instantaneously as Asahi approached them at a rapid pace, his puppy dog eyes easing any ill feelings they would have had if it were literally anyone else.

“Asahi!” The two shouted in unison, receiving him for a hug. It was weird considering they’d seen him only just a day ago, but it was one of those funny moments when you and your friends unintentionally meet up that rises the urge for a hug. “Where are you coming from?”

“I was just at the store. We ran out of eggs for dinner so my mom sent me out,” he smiled, scratching the back of his head.

“You ran out or did you eat them all without Mrs. Azumane knowing?” Daichi asked with his captain voice. Asahi gulped, but continued to smile as innocently as possible.

“Yeah whatever,” Asahi said, joining them as they all began walking at the same group pace they did every day. “How was training today? Daichi looks like shit.”

“Yeah I had a fall in the storage room,” he replied, taking Suga’s lie as the official storyline. “But aside from that training was what it was.”

“Figured. Sorry I couldn’t join you guys, I had a late night last night.”

“Drawing again?” Suga asked, jumping over a small pothole as he did so. Asahi nodded, fishing through his pocket to bring out a very rough and clearly discarded image of a woman in something you would imagine out of Jojos Bizarre Adventure. While the rest of the team and even their classmates may not have known, Asahi really enjoyed drawing. Though his style was quite interesting, he enjoyed sketching poses and characters. He often said he wanted to work on manga, but showed no real interest in storylines ironically. 

“It looks like Giorno,” Daichi commented, taking a look at it from different angles. Both Suga and Asahi went bright red. While Suga thought it looked very Jojo, he didn’t like to speculate in case it was wildly off from what their friend was going for- and clearly in this case it was wildly off. 

“Yeah…” Asahi laughed awkwardly. “I don’t really watch the show but the art is cool.” He practically said through gritted teeth. Quickly snatching the paper back, he stuffed it in his pocket and the three continued on- the pinching in Daichis arm from Suga going unnoticed by their now clearly hurt friend. It turned out to be a great helper that Asahi showed up. Even though they hadn’t properly spoken about the matter, the tension had pretty much disappeared between them. Even as they farewelled Daichi as he turned off to his street, there was no deep feeling of loss for Suga. He knew they’d speak again and when they would it would all be fine, and Daichi felt the same. 

“It was nice bumping into you Sahi,” Suga smiled, waving him off as he turned away with his bag of eggs. 

“See you Monday!” Asahi replied, waving back as he turned around. 

Sugawara pulled his phone out as he continued on the stretch of pavement continuing onto his residential area, scanning through his notifications as if he didn’t see the one at the very top of his phone. 

5:40pm  
5 Unread messages from captain.

Sugawara sighed, but opened them with ease.

captain  
\- When can we talk?  
\- Sorry that sounded too harsh. I would just like to know.  
\- Hey  
\- I should have said hey first.   
\- You looked really good in the evening sun  
\- Was that too forward?

\- How long does it take for you to walk Asahi to his place?

Smiling, he began to text back. Like I thought, no need for tense feelings… Its just Daichi. He thought, stepping with a confidence he didn’t have at the start of that very day. 

Vice  
\- hey daichi. just dropped him now.  
\- what are you doing tomorrow?   
\- also please dont compliment me like that it makes me feel funny,,  
\- i mean u totally can,, but like idk  
\- forget i said anything pls.

captain  
\- I’m free tomorrow. I can come get you on my bike?

Vice  
\- just like in the shojo manga ♡＾▽＾♡  
\- but you have to stand behind me, no way am i doing that i know I’ll fall off.

captain  
\- I’m too big for standing at the back- you’ll have to.

Vice  
\- im sorry r u saying i’m not as jacked as you????????  
\- nvm im not meeting up.

captain  
\- -____-  
\- You’re being difficult. I’ll get you tomorrow at 8.

Vice  
\- is this a date or a school day??   
\- 8am??? on a SUNDAY?  
\- no.

captain  
\- Fine then- what time would you like?

Vice  
\- 11 please :)

captain  
\- I’ll be there at 10:30.

Sugawara smiled as he closed his phone, turning the corner to his house as he imagined seeing Daichi there on his bike. He could have sworn it were Christmas Eve, entering his home with a feeling of grandiosity. Suga greeted his family once he walked in, and travelled up to his room where his studying material was still out. At once- like a child unwrapping a present, he took his shirt off to inspect his upper body. The most distinct of it all was a deep hickey just underneath his collarbone, towards his left breast, as well as a very soft marking on the sides of his torso from where Daichi was grabbing him a bit too hard. Aside from that, nothing was too out of the ordinary. Up close he could see some other small bruises from where his body was being held against certain bumps in the wall and what not. As he glanced and posed for the mirror, he wondered if Daichi was doing the same thing at his home.

“Knowing him, he’s probably in a turtleneck right now,” Sugawara giggled, picking out his pyjamas before going to the bathroom to shower. Little did Sugawara know that not too far from where he bathed, a certain brunette was shirtless as he grazed along the various bites and marks on his body, doing unspeakable things as he thought about what he wanted to do the next time he got his hands on Sugawara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna let you guys know here and now that this chapter is about the limit of smut that's gonna be in this fic. I might get more into detail regarding Suga and Daichi since they are older, but nothing too graphic. Its simply a personal choice considering they're high schoolers. Its not to shame other writers who do write heavy high school smut at all either- like I said simply a personal choice.
> 
> I just wanted to let that be known here and now in case there are people who may expect more of this fic.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tadashi decides to finally speak to Tsukki after school under the impression that he is sick in bed.

Yamaguchi Tadashi rolled out of bed with lacklustre enthusiasm. After a weekend of being home and avoiding the growing problem in his life, he was back to reality and another week of dealing with his best friend. The last time they had spoken was the night Tadashi had tried to kiss him. That was two weeks ago. Training was getting more intense by the day and the brief period following the end of exams where tensions weren’t so high became a fleeting memory. The two were both busy balancing their school work ethics and volleyball, and it made for the perfect excuse to not have to speak to one another. 

Tadashi walked into the bathroom and glared at his reflection- baggy eyes and messy hair. He needed a haircut desperately, but for the moment it was at a manageable length. Readying himself, the first year brushed his teeth and washed his face at a slow pace, not bothering too hard on any of it at all. Mornings were the hardest, because no matter how hard he’d been trying, he always bumped into Tsukki. Maybe they were too much alike- planning to leave home early and late on the same days with the intention of avoiding each other, only to end up on either side of the same road. Once he got to school, his mood always picked up, and there was a lot of reasons for it. Despite his personal problems, his academic and sports life were doing incredibly. The need for distraction was bringing his studying time up to the max, and even though he was dealing with Tsukki constantly at training, his confidence was at an all time high. 

He wondered if Tsukki noticed this at all- how much better he was doing at life, and if so what he thought about it. He hoped his friend didn’t think that somehow being on his own made his skillset grow. Even though things were weird, that was one thing Tadashi practically prayed for. Really the main contribution to his sudden growth in skill was the exact opposite of what would make a good sports person. He was still smoking regularly with his seniors, and even one a few occasions more recently had he smoked on his own outside his house. He was quite careful with it, and really only did it when he needed something to take his mind off of Tsukishima in the first place. 

“Are you training late again tonight?” Tadashi mother asked as the first year ate at the table slowly. 

“No not tonight. I’ll probably stay back on Wednesday or Thursday, they’re supposed to be cooler days so it could be nice.”

“Not a worry,” his mom smiled back, walking out of the dining area to her sons side for a moment. “I’m going to go shower, you have a good day at school. And tell Kei to stop being so shy around here.” 

With a kiss on the forehead, she was off. Tadashi wondered if it’d be worth asking her mom for advice on the matter. She was loving, and a part of Tadashi felt that she would understand the feelings he felt for the person that was supposed to be his best friend. Sighing as he did so, Tadashi got out of his chair and began his way to school. 

Walking down his usual route, tension grew in his chest as he reached the intersection where Tsukki would appear from, waiting both eagerly and with worry for when he would show up. To Tadashi surprise, however, there was no Tsukki to be seen anywhere. 

“I guess he left home early today,” Tadashi mumbled to himself but somehow not believing it. The weather was getting colder by the day, and while it was still relatively warm, it was currently at a state where colds were very easy to catch. So, with this in mind, Tadashi went on his way to school. Upon arrival, it became fully clear that Tsukki would not be there for school that day. While he was the stronger of the two, Tsukishima was far more prone to colds than Yamaguchi was. It partially had to do with the fact that Tsukki was worse at taking care of himself. While he wasn’t one to overwork himself- if he was lazy he would often opt for sleeping than eating or drinking. While it wasn’t severe in any way, it was no way for a growing person to behave. 

Groaning as he thought about this, Tadashi soon realised what he would have to do. Yet, deep down he couldn’t help but smile. This might just be the perfect way to mend the current gash in their friendship. Yes, a bowl of soup and some treats from the store after school was exactly what Tsukki would need. Smiling, Tadashi went about his school day like anything else, eager for the end to come.

—

Training went by quick enough. Though between the pop quizzes and the strange amount of errands that teachers had sent the young man on, Tadashi was exhausted by the time training had even begun. They were doing cardio for the better half of it, then training reflexes in pairs for the other half. Tadashi was training with Hinata for the most part while Kageyama worked with a fairly tense Narita, who didn’t seem at all happy about working with the first year. Soon enough they had to rotate, Tadashi moving to Suga who seemed beyond upset that he and Daichi were no longer paired. Aside from his own problems, Tadashi couldn’t help but notice the two had gotten closer- however nobody else seemed to notice at all. 

“Alrighty, you ready dude?” Suga started, bouncing the ball on the ground a couple times as Tadashi spread out for receiving. Nodding in agreement, the two began. As a setter, it was really easy to get into the flow of the training. While Sugas sets were typically easy, he was intentionally making them difficult and hard to predict for the sake of training, even going as far as rambling on about school and his life as he did so to really distract his junior. If it had been when he first started, Tadashi would have barely been able to receive or spike any of these balls, but now he was getting them at above 70%. While he wasn’t perfect, Tadashi genuinely felt that he was doing quite good for someone with little game experience.

Training was finally coming to a wind down, Suga and Tadashi shaking on a good days practice. “Wanna hang after this?” Suga asked quietly as they walked towards the bench.

“Yeah of course,” Tadashi whispered back walking away as he gathered his things and opening his phone to see Suga had already texted their chat.

4:23pm  
Extracurricular Botany  
sugywugy  
\- who wanna hang?

yammy boy  
\- im in :~)

Baldy  
\- cant srry.  
\- next time fr fr  
\- gotta go shopping w saeko

Asahis Chihuahua  
\- I’m in! Yams lets walk together

Closing his phone, he looked up at Noya and Tadashi who stood shirtless at the door getting the cool breeze. Wiping his face with his towel, he joined them. 

“What are you and big sis shopping for?” Tadashi asked, getting some of the air for himself.

“She wants to cook some French meal for dinner. I don’t really get it but her meals usually turn out good,” Tanaka replied, stretching his arms out tiredly.

“Sounds it. You should really host us sometime,” Noya suggested, a bright smile for his best friend.

“Yeah over my dead body dude- no way I’m feeding that bottomless pit of yours,” Tanaka huffed.

Tadashi simply giggled at the two. “You’re one to talk, Tanaka.” He said. The three chatted for a few more moments before the second years put their shirts and jackets back on, exiting the gym with Tadashi and going in the direction of the spot. Quickly into the walk, Tanaka turned off to his own errands leaving Noya and Tadashi alone. The two had never really spent time together, but between training and smoking they had a fair amount of things to talk about. 

“I can’t believe how much better you’ve gotten dude,” Noya chirped as they went on their way. Tadashis cheeks went a light pink as he took the compliment head on. 

“Yeah neither can I to be honest. I mean I’m no where near the other first years but I feel like I’m getting somewhere,” Tadashi smiled back. 

“Don’t worry about that too much. Hinata and Kageyama are freaks of nature and Tsukki is practically a giant,” Noya encouraged. 

“Yeah, yeah I know. Its just… I wish I was a freak too,” Tadashi said, looking up at the sky eagerly.

“You’re too young to want something like that,” Noya giggled back.

“Wait what? Oh. Dude! Get your head out of the gutter for once,” Tadashi punched the older boy in the shoulder. Noya only smiled in return. 

-

The two reached the spot and set up in no time. Tadashi had bought a bag of gummy bears not too long ago and there was still a solid amount in the dingy pantry. “We really gotta try making edibles, you know,” he suggested.

“Yeah I agree,” Noya replied. “But knowing us we’d accidentally eat about 10 each and enter the next life.”

“You aren’t wrong about that.”

-  
4:49pm  
Extracurricular Botany

yammy boy  
\- suga wya

sugywugy  
\- set up but don’t start. literally around the corner

yammy boy  
\- gotcha

-

Tadashi looked up to find Noya filling the bong with water and stocking a bowl for a Suga who was, within mere seconds, right at the door. The third year walked in smugly as he made his way to the living space, sitting on a beanbag and taking the bong Noya handed to him. 

“To a hard days work, boys,” he smiled, bringing it up to his lips.

“It’s literally a Monday,” Tadashi replied as he watched the older boy take the hit. 

“Yeah, why are we even smoking today?” Noya added.

“I just felt like I needed it,” Suga admitted, handing the bong over to Tadashi.

“Anything you wanna talk about though?” Noya asked him, but Suga only shook his head to say no. The rotation went around twice before they broke off, feeling the high soon enough as they leaned into their chairs. “Tadashi wants to make edibles.”

“I’m down,” Suga replied, tilting his head to Tadashi. “How about Friday? I’m getting more bud in on Thursday so.”

“Sounds good. I’ll give you cash to buy double though,” Tadashi tilted his head to face Suga. 

“Yeah that’s all good. Speaking of, where are you even getting your money from?” 

“I think you guys forget I’m actually pretty smart. And unlike the other smart snobs, I don’t turn down any kind of paying customer,” Tadashi smiled. It was true- though he was admittedly taking a lot more students to keep up with his personal demand. 

“That sounded super sleazy. I hope you’re not charging them double for nothing,” Sugawara replied, squinting his eyes down at his junior. 

“Okay now I’m starting to think you just don’t know anything about me at all, Suga. What kind of a monster would do that?”

“Tsukki, probably,” Noya joked. 

Suddenly, Tadashi seized. Shit. Shit Shit Shit. How could he forget something so simple? He felt queasy at once, but rose to his feet regardless.

“Dude, you okay?” Noya asked, beginning to rise too. “It was just a joke, I didn’t mean it-“

“No, no not that… I was supposed to go to Tsukkis, he’s sick in bed I was gonna bring him some stuff. God I’m such a fuck up!” Tadashi groaned, turning to lean against the wall. 

“Hey its not too late, just go now,” Sugawara replied. “Theres a corner store a bit further down the street, so you don’t have to go to Ukai, and you’ll be sober by the time you get to Tsukkis. I mean its like what a 30 minute walk? You’ll be good.”

“You sound way too calm for this, are you okay?” Noya asked worriedly. He was definitely the most sober out of the three for once, but he was still in a certain state. Tadashi gulped, realising what he had to do, and gathered his things. 

“Wish me luck.” Tadashi sighed, walking to the door.

“We’ll call you in 20, okay,” Suga smiled, filling the bong up as he said so.

“You will definitely forget, but thank you anyways. You two… Goodbye,” Tadashi threw a peace sign, and walked out of the house at once. The high was starting to get to him as he made his way up towards the convenience store, but he was still on both feet. Frankly all he wanted to do was to be back with his friends in that little flat, but he had far more important things to be doing. 

The air-conditioning of the corner store flushed Tadashi with a strange sensation as he hobbled his way down the aisles. He couldn’t afford to think of what the storeowners must have been thinking, and hoped he appeared more a worn out high school student than some kind of delinquent. He made his way to the drinks section and picked out both a vitamin drink and Tsukkis favourite, then went about doing the same in the candy aisle. He also got a cup of easy make soup for his friend too and some Panadol (**paracetamol**). The store clerk was completely unconcerned with the boy as he made his way in and out, tying the plastic bag to his own bag to save carrying, and going back on his way. 

The walk seemed long and sluggish, and his legs began to feel tired as he approached his neighbourhood. The walking to and from the flat made Tadashi wish more and more that he owned a bike, but regardless he pushed forward until he was finally at the footsteps of Tsukishima’s house. Before knocking, Tadashi opened his phone camera to observe himself. His eyes were red but they were only slightly lowered, and his lips were perked upwards in an unnatural but also unhelpable way. He felt that his highness was incredibly obvious, but hoped that Tsukki was too sick in bed to pay any notice. 

Gulping, Tadashi pressed the doorbell and waited for some kind of a response- usually Tsukki would yell back or his mother would invite him in, but today was different. Instead Tsukishima Kei opened the door for Tadashi, looking bright and as healthy as ever. 

“Oh… its you,” Tsukki began, his ears reddening which Tadashi immediately noticed, but then faltering when he took a look at Tadashi face. “You look weird. You sick or something?”

“No… I thought,” Tadashi began, a smile growing on his lips as he took a look at his friend. “I thought you were sick, I got you some things.”

“Oh,” Tsukki blushed before quickly turning around and walking into the house. “Come in.” Tadashi followed him in, taking off his shoes and walking up the stairs to the living area. 

“If you aren’t sick why weren’t you at school?” Tadashi asked.

“I wanted to study at home, and I had a feeling we wouldn’t be doing much today. Was I correct?”

“Well, yeah but… I was like worried, Kei,” Tadashi replied.

“Why would you worry?” Tsukki asked him.

“Well we haven’t… You know- what if something happened or something?”

Sighing, Tsukki continued to walk into his bedroom. “Whats wrong with you today? You truly look terrible.”

“Maybe you just haven’t seen me in a while, I’m fine,”

“Tadashi, I know about your little secret.” Tsukki said in a harsh but clear snap. Tadashi stopped in his tracks, standing at the door of the bedroom he’d previously tried to kiss his friend in. “I don’t care either, but, I do care that you haven’t told me anything at all.”

“What?”

“You know… Nevermind,” Tsukki sighed, sitting at his table and going back to his studies. “Help yourself to whatever you’d like. You hungry or something? Cook the food you thought you’d give me.”

Tadashi went blank for a moment, but soon felt riled up at once, dropping his bag and walking over to Tsukki where he sat. Turning the spinning chair around, he forced Tsukki to face him head on as he opened his mouth to speak.  
“You know Kei, you’re a confusing asshole of a friend sometimes. You never show any interest in my life, but I don’t talk to you about it and I’m the problem? I’ll admit that I haven’t told you a lot about my life lately, but have you thought to yourself that maybe if you showed any fucking interest in me I actually would?! Or is it only me that has to start anything for it to actually happen? Leave all the risk to me, because youre too much of a coward to even ask your best friend something as simple as what they’ve fucking done that day?!”

Tsukki stood up, pushing Tadashi back in retaliation, holding his shirt as he looked back at him. 

“Thats how you’re going to put it?! I’ll admit I’m not good at being a friend most of the time, but at least I’d never abandon you out of the blue because my seniors suddenly showed interest in me. You just smoking with them or you letting them fuck you too now?!”

“Where the fuck is THAT even coming from you psycho?! Just admit you’re in the fucking wrong, admit you’ve been a shit friend! Admit that you’re a shitty coward and admit you miss me!”

“Fuck you Tadashi!” Tsukki let go for a split second before tightening his grip, planting his lips against Tadashis fiercely. The shorter boy responded in shock, leaning in for a split second before pushing away.

“Fuck you too. Don’t try and kiss me like there isn’t a lot of bullshit we have to get through.” Tadashi grumbled, frowning as he looked Tsukki in the eye. Tsukki began to ease off, but Tadashi pulled him back in at the waist, the two pressed together as they both scowled. 

“You really wanna do this like this? Fine,” Tsukki let go of his friends collar, instead holding him at the cheeks. “I think you’re just as much as a coward as me, using weed as a means of pretending like you’re not. I think you’re scared of being left behind, and that if you smoke enough it can be an excuse for when you inevitably do get left behind. And I think that, if you keep it up, I’m not going to be around to lend you a helping hand like when we were kids.”

Tadashi had tears welling at his eyes, but kept them locked on the blonde. “I think you’re weak. You’re weak and entitled, thinking that the mere level of skill you have is enough to never try hard. You’re scared of everything, even of me. And if you think I’m going to get left behind youre wrong- because there’s no space anywhere for a person so afraid they can’t even give a kiss without using a fight to do it.”

“So are we good?” Tsukki smirked, cocking his head in his signature scowl.

“Well we certainly aren’t bad anymore,” Tadashi smiled, still keeping sharp eyes up at his friend before pulling him closer once more. Tsukki kissed him softly and only once, and it was enough for the two of them for one meeting. Frankly, even though they didn’t say it they were both far too emotionally exhausted to do anything more.   
“Would you like to have a nap?” Tsukki asked, walking over to the bag of treats and pulling out the drink that Tadashi got for him, taking a sip then handing it over.

“I need to shower first,” Tadashi replied. “I think I’ll sleep here tonight.”

“Sounds good, just don’t expect anything more you little pervert,” Tsukki responded.

Tadashi clicked his tongue. “I wasn’t even thinking like that, you freak.” Picking out a graphic T-shirt with a dinosaur on it, and a pair of clean training shorts, Tadashi made his way to the shower, texting his mom as he did so to say he was staying the night at Tsukkis. It was one of the benefits of being such a good boy, and having a model student as a best friend- weekday sleepovers had never been declined, even through exam season, because both Mrs Tsukishima and Yamaguchi knew that deep down even on a day off they’d somehow end up studying something. 

The shower was refreshing for Tadashi, sobering him up almost completely as he exited feeling warm and clean. When he got out he observed himself in the mirror. His face was almost back to normal- no longer red eyed but they were still lowered slightly. He felt fine though, considering he’d barely smoked to begin with. Feeling an alert from his phone, he checked to see if it was his mother.

5:59pm  
Extracurricular Botany  
sugywugy  
\- tadashi. u alive?

yammy boy  
\- all is well… he wasn’t even sick lol  
\- we’re back to normal too :~)

—

Closing his phone, he went back to the room. To his surprise, Tsukki was already laying in bed with his eyes closed, glasses on the bedside table. Tadashi got into the bed with him too, not bothering to disturb his rest. He couldn’t help but smile. It’d been so long since he felt this warmth, the smell of Tsukki around him as he nestled into the bed to get cosier.

“Stop moving.” Tsukki grumbled, turning around so his back was to his friend.

“Sorry is this disturbing you?” Tadashi asked, wriggling around to make the bed shake. Tsukki turned once more, squinting with a foul look on his face. Out of the blue, and to much of Tadashis surprise, Tsukki pecked him on the forehead through his frown.

“Is that what you wanted? Will you stop now?” Tsukki asked.

Tadashi smiled brightly, resting into the pillow. “I missed this.” He said, closing his eyes as he rolled around and pressing his back into Tsukkis chest.

“Your hair is in my face,” Tsukishima grumbled.

“Then turn around, Kei.”

Tsukki didn’t turn around, and the two began their nap in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this wasn't too fast paced. I just really love the idea of Tsukki and Tadashi love language being disrespectful as fuck to each other.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile- this was supposed to be longer but its more of a filler bc I wanted to get an update out :(( just been super busy. Id say enjoy but there isn't much here except for some casual yet awkward fluff

Tadashi was awoken later in the evening by Tsukishima, who had risen earlier upon his mother arriving home. Currently she was in the kitchen preparing the last details for dinner, which Tadashi was surely going to feel guilty for when he was to realise they did all the work while he laid around their house. Smugly, Tsukki began to shake Tadashis shoulder to wake him.

“What do you want?” He asked grumpily. 

“Dinners ready. You’re welcome,” Tsukki grinned. Suddenly, Tadashi was wide awake as he jumped out of the bed with newfound energy and a look of guilt plastered over his face. It was just as Tsukishima had predicted, but it was entertaining none the less. Had he thought for a moment that his mother would be genuinely angry that Tadashi hadn’t helped make the food or be apart of family time, he would have woken up his friend, but Mrs Tsukishima was kind and warm the same way Mrs Yamaguchi was, and there was absolutely no need for Tadashi to be as panicked as he was.

Tadashi didn’t even wait for Tsukki before he had bolted out the bedroom door, meeting his friends mother in the kitchen where three bowls of curry stood. “Just in time!” She smiled, handing him two as she grabbed her own and leading them to the table. 

“I’m so sorry for sleeping in! I’ll make dinner next time I’m over- I promise!”

Tsukkis mom only laughed. “Don’t worry a bit! I’m just glad to see you here after so long. When Tsukki said you two had a disagreement, I was really worried. It’s not like you two to fight like grownups, but I knew it’d be fine.”

“Oh he… told you…” Tadashi trailed off, his face getting bright red as Tsukki approached the table. 

“Thank you mom, I was worried that dinner wasn’t going to be tense enough,” Tsukki commented, praying quickly to himself before beginning to eat.

“Its not tense! I just thought it was surprising that you told your mom… I mean not that Tsukki wouldn’t tell you things- its just,” Tadashi began to ramble. 

“Oh no I completely understand, really I just think Tsukki’s growing up,” his mother continued, smiling sweetly as ever. 

“I hope you both know I’m here at the table too,” Tsukki rolled his eyes. “But sure, keep talking as if I’m absent.”

Tadashi rolled his eyes too and smiled, “I forgot how much I’ve missed your curry. You know I’m staying the night, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware. I made the curry just for you too, so eat up! You two can take some for lunch tomorrow as well.”

The three continued to chat about school and studies for the remainder of dinner, Tsukkis mother leaving the table first to go to the study, leaving Tsukki and Tadashi to the dirty dishes. They didn’t at all bring up any of the major issues they had, or the means of resolving them too, but soon enough the conversation needed to be had. A fight and a kiss felt like enough at the moment, but there was serious work to be put into whatever was going on and the two of them knew it. 

“So…”

“Not now,” Tsukki shut him off firmly. Tadashi turned his head and returned to him with a fiery glare as if to say 'don't tell me what to do.'

“As I was saying, we need to talk. About what this is, and about….”

“Your drug addiction?” Tsukki interjected with a soft tone, intentionally serious but lighthearted too.

“You know its not a drug addiction. Frankly if I did have an addiction it’d probably be because of you and your shitty attitude,” Tadashi snarled back, a smile growing on his lips. He knew where the conversation was going from here.

Tsukki rolled his eyes playfully. “Sometimes your words hurt me, Tadashi.”

“What goes around, comes around, Kei. I’m only a product of the person you chose to be towards me.” Tadashi smiled, bumping Tsukki on the hip playfully as he washed the rice pot out. Tsukki smiled back, leaning down to quickly peck Tadashi on the head. “I think you like me.” Tadashi commented as Tsukki carried utensils to their drawer.

“Oh you do? It must have been hard to figure it out.”

The two continued their banter until the entire kitchen was spotless, stopping only to fight for a mere moment over who liked who more with the loser being the one with the most feelings. While the subject was different, the two boys felt beyond happy to be back to their usual bickering selves. They didn’t fight the same way that Hinata and Kageyama did, they found that their arguments were far more entertaining to them anyways and more of a competition to see who had the best insults. The two walked back to Tsukkis room together, being sure to close the door behind them as they sat on the ground, Yamaguchi against the bed as Tsukishima laid on his lap. 

“Back to the point... First things first, I’m not going to stop you from… your hobbies,” Tsukki began, looking up at Tadashi. “And you’re not going to get mad at me when I blow you off in return. Also, no public displays of affection. I don’t care who you tell but if you make it a big deal I will crush you into a million pieces.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Tadashi asked.

“Us dating, obviously. You can say no if you don’t like the terms and conditions, but I doubt you will,” Tsukki said.

“Keep telling yourself that blondie, I got options” Tadashi smiled, pinching the boy below hims cheeks softly to which Tsukki rolled his eyes. “But if you have conditions then so do I. You can’t be super mean to me anymore, and in return I’ll stop trying to hurt your feelings.”

“I think that goes without saying. I don’t know how relationships work but both of those things would be abuse.”

“They’ve always been abuse, Kei. Oh also I get to pick the pet names!” Tadashi beamed, brushing Tsukkis cheeks softly with his thumbs now. “You can be bunny, and I’ll just be Tadashi.”

“Is this some kind of sick fantasy of yours?” Tsukki asked, brushing Tadashis hands as he played with his skin.

“Why does it always go back to something sexual with you? I mean if you want to wear the bunny outfit who am I to stop you?”

“I hate you.”

“I hate you too.” 

"So are we dating?" Tsukki asked, looking away boredly as he blushed.

"I guess so," Tadashi replied, kissing him softly on the nose.

That night Tadashi slept on the floor. While there was no real problem between the two of them sleeping in the same bed, they both agreed it was more appropriate to be seperate,=- but mainly it was because they both knew they’d barely get sleep worrying about how close or distant they had to be. Tadashi didn’t mind as he set up on the floor, scrolling on his phone in the last moments of his sleep.

“I’ll have to go home early to get my uniform,” Tadashi commented. “So if I’m not here when you get up, don’t get sad.”

“Just wear my uniform,” Tsukki replied dryly. 

“I think you’re forgetting how badly that went last time.” The last time in question was in middle school after a sleepover. The two went to school the next day with Tadashi looking like a hobo, Tsukkis uniforms two sizes too big for him and his pants touching the ground. They were lucky that nobody really paid too much mind to it, but it was embarrassing nevertheless. 

Grunting, Tsukki rolled over so he couldn’t see the light from his friends phone. “Just don’t wake me up then.” He said, turning his phone off to sleep.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, grumpy,” Tadashi replied, doing the same in return. 

—

Tsukishima woke up groaning after a restless sleep to an empty bedroom, a note the only remainder that Tadashi had ever been there. 

“Gone home. You were moving around in your sleep a lot so you probably still feel tired. Get ready for school I’ll bring you something to eat on the walk, just make sure to pack some of your moms curry!!!!!”

Tsukki smiled, folded the paper and put it in his desk drawer, doing just as instructed by his friend. Rushing out the house, the first year made his way to the intersection where he typically met his best friend. It felt somewhat embarrassing that Tadashi was aware of how little sleep Tsukki had gotten, considering he couldn’t quite help it. It was understandable, Tsukki thought. The only reason he couldn’t sleep was because Tadashi was right there. Even though they’d had hundreds of sleepovers in the past, it was ridiculous for either of them to act like it was still the same. Romance or not, they’d crossed a line neither of them could have imagined a month ago, and things were never going to go back to how they were- not that Tsukki wanted that.

Tadashi was already at the intersection, two bento boxes in hand. He handed the green one over to Tsukki and opened his own, digging into the small but savoury breakfast he had prepared.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” Tsukki commented, digging into his food too. “I could have made my own breakfast.”

“You wouldn’t have. Besides I woke up quite early so it didn’t rush me to make breakfast. I didn’t exactly get the best nights sleep either,” Tadashi replied with a soft smile.

“Sorry, was I being loud?”

“What?” His friend said worriedly. “Not at all! My lack of sleep was probably the same as yours- I couldn’t exactly sleep well knowing you were so close to me. I mean its embarrassing to say- but its the truth right?”

“Yeah,” Tsukki replied warily as a blush crept on his face. “Its the truth… But its not like I don’t want you to sleep over anymore either.”

“Yeah no I don’t want that either… But I don’t wanna sleep next to you too… No offence,” Tadashi added to the end, continuing to eat as he blushed too.

“No I agree, that feels wrong.”

“Yeah…”

The two walked in silence for a little while longer, eating until the food was completely gone. With another few minutes left in their walk, Tsukki handed his empty lunchbox to his friend and continued where they stopped.

“Maybe you could sleep on the couch,” he suggested with a smirk. “Or outside like a dog.”

“Maybe you can sleep on the park bench down the street and I’ll have your bed,” Tadashi replied without looking up as he quickly sent out a text.

“Maybe I’ll sleep in your room and you can sleep in mine,” Tsukki added on.

“Well,” Tadashi began, looking up at his friend with a cheeky smirk. “Your mom does love me more.”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, and ruffled his best friends hair in response. They reached the school gates by the time their bickering had halted, walking together to the home room and switching the conversation quite naturally to studies- another bonus to their preexisting friendship; Tsukishima and Tadashi were not ones to talk their personal lives, even to the point that when around people they knew they only spoke school or interests. It was a habit that Tsukki had initially formed, but after years of being with each other it was only natural for Tadashi to pick it up too. It made it impossibly hard for others to learn about them, and their secrets, but even more so it currently meant that nobody would find out about their budding romance. 

The two sat in homeroom, waiting around for their first class to begin. Tsukki listened to music as he observed an onslaught of texts being received by his friend. Trying not to pay attention, he began playing a game on his own phone, trying not to wonder what Tadashi could be talking about- and with whom. It was ass if by a guardian angel, but within seconds of this train of thought Tsukki received a text of his own from his friend.

7:54am

tada!! shi  
\- would u like to hang w me, noya and tanaka on friday:] if u kno what i mean

o-kei  
\- No.

tada!! shi  
\- u sure? It could be fun for u  
\- but if u dont wanna its ok

o-kei  
\- Thank you, but that’s your thing.   
\- I don’t think I could be around those 2 for too long.

tada!! shi  
\- i see  
\- so they’re the problem here,,

o-kei  
\- I feel like you’re missing the point

tada!! shi  
\- blush on ur face begs to differ  
\- u look cute btw… wanna kiss later idk

“Tadashi there’s something deeply wrong with you,” Tsukki said aloud. The girl sitting the other side of him flicked her head in quick response, surprised to hear from him so early in the morning. His friend only smiled in response, their teacher walking in before he could make a remark.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Towards the end it gets a bit **aggressive**, so please be aware of that. 
> 
> Also, sorry for not updating for a long time. I haven't had access to my laptop for quite some time and I rushed this chapter as soon as I could, so it may be a bit rough.   
> I'll go back to updating regularly now that I can.
> 
> Also! I'm considering writing a one-shot smut compilation (aged-up ofc!!), would anyone be interested in that?

“So everything is back to normal with you two?” Hinata asked quietly as he and Tadashi jogged around the school grounds. He and Kageyama had since stopped racing and continued their PE class as normal- Kageyama was far ahead with some other classmates while Hinata and Tadashi weren’t too far behind, the volleyball boys and the rest of their years athletes far ahead of the other students. 

“Yeah… Things were never bad, we just had a small fight- kind of like how you and Kageyama fight,” Tadashi replied, feeling the heat getting to him. Hinata was unwatered.

“Well Kageyama and I aren’t friends, so we fight all the time,” Hinata replied. Tadashi rolled his eyes at that internally. Sure Kageyama was around 50 times more hostile than Tsukki, but there was no doubting that the two were friends. “Anyways I’m gonna run ahead and see if he wants to race… PE classes really need to get harder, don’t you think?”

“Yeah totally,” Tadashi lied, finally slowing down when Hinata ran off. Within moments, the space beside him was once again filled with something far more familiar. 

“Finally he’s gone,” Tsukki commented, jogging alongside his friend idly. ‘You could go faster too if you wanted’ Tadashi thought grumpily as he looked up to see a barely sweating Tsukishima.

“I can’t wait for this class to be over,” Tadashi said, ignoring his friends statement. “Frankly I can’t wait for school to finish.”

It had been a few days since their fateful sleepover and the two had decided to try dating, but for the most part they were still completely normal best friends. Despite joking, they hadn’t even kissed since that night and frankly, the idea of calling each other boyfriends disgusted them both to no ends. Yet, they went to all efforts to constantly be touching in some way, sometimes going as far as bumping into each other at practice. They brushed hands when they walked home, but weren’t comfortable talking about their relationship. To Tadashi, it felt like every step forward was as if he were walking the wrong way up an escalator. Sure things were happening, but just as quickly as that they weren’t. Still, he felt just as fearful as his friend did about the things he truly wanted. 

“Are you still going to hang out with Noya and Tanaka today?” Tsukki asked as they walked off the grounds and to the change rooms. Despite Kageyama and Hinata walking out of the change rooms, Tadashi and Tsukki were amongst the first group to finish their run, meaning they also had first dibs on the showers. Sharing a quick handshake with Hinata, Tadashi followed his friend inside, continuing the conversation there.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind… If you’d like to do something else instead we can,” Tadashi replied with a blush. He also still felt guilty about hanging around them, despite Tsukki not seeming to care.

“Its fine. You have fun, but call me when you’re done.”

“Its good to know you worry about me,” Tadashi smirked, throwing him a soft wink as they walked into different showers. The rushing water was loud, but the two continued to chat amongst the noise of everyone else.

“Are you going to be with them during the weekend?” Tsukki asked quite loudly in order to be heard.

“No, I was hoping to study at yours,” Tadashi replied at the same volume.

“Just don’t come high and you will be okay,” Tsukki shouted back. Opening his eyes widely, both he and Tadashi stuck their heads out their shower stalls at the same time, trying to observe if anyone managed to hear that. “Shit.” The blonde mumbled with a red face.

“Its okay, nobody heard.” Tadashi replied. The two continued their showers like normal, pretending that that didn’t just happen by trying to talk about anything. After a few seconds, Tsukki began rambling about dinosaurs quite nervously. Frankly, he was even more of a wreck about it than Tadashi, but even still it was likely more because he spoke about Tadashis personal affairs so loudly, the shorter boy decided.

The two finished their showers at the same time, and walked side by side to the changing rooms to return to their uniforms. The changing area seemed completely empty, most of their classmates either in the showers or already done. So, paying no real mind to their surroundings, the two began to get changed and pretend that the conversation they’d just had didn’t actually happen- or so they thought.

“So what’s this about Yamaguchi getting high?” A stern, familiar and deathly terrifying voice said from around the locker rooms. The two stopped to a pin drop silence, absolutely terrified for their young lives as the older brunette walked around with a towel over his bare shoulder. 

“D-Daichi,” Tadashi stuttered. Even Tsukishima felt dumbfounded under the undeniably dark energy in the room. 

“Wanna tell me what I may have overheard?” Daichi asked as he crossed his arms. He looked both amused, but just as angry. Of course he was angry, Tadashi thought, he was their captain. But even so, as both he and Tsukki processed it he realised that Daichi hadn’t heard too much.”

“Its… Nothing,” Tadashi babbled out. “Really, I think there’s been a misunderstanding-“

“I don’t think that… But hey, what do I know, right?” He shrugged, clearly suppressing himself from blowing up at them. “Anyways I gotta go to class, I think Sugawara and I have a lot to talk about.”

Tadashis face went red, completely proving Daichis hunch. Their senior stalked out of the change room as more first years entered, leaving behind a very clear trace of hostility in his wake. The two practically went limp as soon as he was out of sight, leaning against the lockers for a mere moment before Tadashi was back up, texting away as frantically as possible.

11:19am  
Yamaguchi Tadashi  
\- suga big emergency, daichi overheard tsukki talking about ouid activities and he’s onto you. i didn’t even mention u i swear!!!!!  
\- im so sorry, just play dumb and ill act like i got into it seperate from u guys   
\- UGH

Closing his phone, he sighed in false relief and rose to his feet, Tsukki joining at his side. “What was that about Suga?” Tsukishima asked.

“Well,” Tadashi began in an incredibly low whisper, enticing Tsukki to come closer to hear. The two were walking in an open area, and nobody was really around, but as they made their way to their next class they tried to keep as quiet as possible. “I didn’t want to tell you, because he doesn’t let anyone know, but Suga is a big smoker. Like… Bigger than everyone. But nobody knows because he keeps it a secret because he doesn’t want the team to feel like he should be undermined or something.”

“I see,” Tsukki whispered back, leaning down to Tadashis ears enough for the shorter of the two to burst into a blush. “But even so, did you really have to keep that from me?”

“It was more a matter of respecting Suga. If it were anyone else it’d be different, but-“

“No I understand, its Suga.” Tsukki finished. “I hope he doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Same here, but you know how Daichi is.”

—

Practice was tense. Sugawara could tell that much upon arrival. It was clear Tanaka and Noya had caught up to the trouble Tadashi had gotten into, and were steering clear of him completely. The boy in question was a sweaty mess, his best friend no better. While Yamaguchi was known for his anxiety, it was a worrying sight seeing Tsukki so worried. They refused to even be on the same side of the court as Daichi, the brown haired third year standing proudly as if nothing were amiss. 

Suga was the last to arrive- not because of the drama but because he actually had schoolwork that cut into training. Still, Daichis glare didn’t go unnoticed, sending shingles up the grey haired boys back. 

“Suga! Just the guy I wanted to see!,” Daichi smiled, throwing an arm around Suga. “I was telling coach I wanted to stay back and give the old place a good cleaning today. You like to clean, don’t you?”

“Well yea, but so does Asahi,” Suga replied awkwardly, trying to rip away from the tight grip of his friend and (though likely for not much longer) lover. 

“I offered, but Daichi reminded me I have heaps of work to keep up for uni applications. Sorry guys!”  
“We have uni application work too! Why can’t the second years?!” Suga retorted, their teammates beginning to crowd around in interest.

“They can’t clean as well as us- besides you never have plans on Fridays anyways… Right?” Daichi asked, this time looking Suga dead in the eye. Suga gulped, heartbeat racing as he felt the eyes of his teammates on him and the need to act as absolutely cool as possible to live through this. Briefly, he thought to himself the way he would go about beating Tadashi with a stick for getting them in that situation, but one situation at a time. 

Tadashi, from the other side of the court where he tensely stretched with Tsukki, sneezed.

“I guess if I have to, I have to. Besides you’re right, I do enjoy a good cleaning,” Suga smiled, putting his arm around Daichi. “Now enough of that, lets play!”

The entire training session, Daichis eyes were on Suga and he knew it. He felt like prey to his classmate, and moved around as such- constantly on the look out for Daichi and intentionally avoiding him. Suga also made a point to avoid Tadashi, Noya and Tanaka for similar reasons, though they all seemed to catch on. From afar, it was somewhat obvious that there was a tension in the air, but the Karasuno volleyball team tried their best to pretend it wasn’t there, and that there wasn’t an obviously looming shadow following Daichi as he trained. 

“He’s like a demon amongst mortals,” Narita commented in passing to Enoshita- the two nodding together in agreement. Suga overheard and grumbled to himself. There was no overthinking this, either he lied or he told the truth, but either way Daichi was gonna have his head. Training went on in much silence, Daichi smiling away as he often did, pretending as though his teammates weren’t clearly terrified. The entire time, Tadashi appeared to be on the verge of throwing up, even being offered an early finish by Ukai which he politely declined. 

The team practiced as best they could up until they were done for the day, everyone warming down and then quickly dispersing. For the first time all year, Hinata didn’t even suggest staying back to practice, instead leaving as fast as everyone else until it was just Sugawara and Daichi alone in the gymnasium. 

“I’m going to start over on this end, you can start on the other- sound good?” Suga smiled, walking away quickly before getting snapped back at his shirts collar. 

“How about we both work together on this end. Haven’t seen you all day, bud, I wanna hear how it went,” Daichi smiled sweetly, the dark energy looming into Sugas space. Gulping the white haired boy walked along with him to the storage room to get brooms for sweeping. 

“Been awhile since we’ve been in here, kinda inviting… right?” Suga said as they entered the supply room, trying to pretend the tension wasn’t there. 

“Cut the crap, Suga,” Daichi said as closed the door behind them- the rooms darkness hiding the fear in Sugas face.

“What do you mean?” Suga asked, pretending as though he had no idea. 

“You know what I mean… Fuck, seriously? Selling weed to your first years?! Aside from being a co-captain you’re supposed to look over them, not sell them fucking drugs like some kind of lowlife!” Daichi shouted, slamming his arm against the wall hard enough to make the shelves rattle. Suga frowned at him, gritting his teeth as he took a step forward.

“Who the fuck do you think I am, Daichi? Some kind of punk who forces people to give me their money? You don’t think I don’t care about our team? Our friends?!” Suga snapped back, pushing Daichi roughly

“Your friends?! Last I fucking checked, some senior who sells weed to a bunch of kids doesn’t count as their fucking friend!” Daichi said, taking a step closer. They were only an inch apart, but neither felt any urge that wasn’t anger or violence. 

“Where is this even coming from? Why are you suddenly convinced I’m selling weed to our juniors?!”

“Oh you think playing dumbs gonna get you out of this?” Daichi said, walking forward until Suga was against the wall. The silver haired boy almost felt fearful in the position- Daichi looming over him darkly. “You can fuck up your own life, Suga. You can smoke your brain away, but leave Yamaguchi out of it. Maybe you see yourself in him, and maybe you want to get him started early so he doesn’t pass you the way everyone else has-“

“You really think I’m a fuckup?!” Suga snapped before Daichi could continue. “I think you’re forgetting who the smart one is here. I’m the one with the good grades, and I’m the one with a good future. You’re average in every way, Daichi, and you don’t even have anything to blame it on. So before you try and tell me that I’m going nowhere, maybe you should look in a mirror first,”

“Really? You’re so smart, huh Suga,” Daichi responded lowly, his body now pressed so close against Suga that he was speaking right into his ears. It was bad timing as Suga could feel his body react to it. “Do you even know what you’re doing with all that brain? What you’re studying for? Why you spend so many hours reading through piles and piles of work?” Daichis hands were now on Sugas hips, bucking them closer. 

“You can fool everyone else into thinking you have your life together, but I know you,” he whispered, kissing Sugas neck softly. “You have no idea what you’re doing or where you’re going- in fact all you actually do know about yourself is that you’d rather smoke the real world away and slut yourself out to whoever would take you- isn’t that right?” 

Suga hated Daichi in that moment. Truly and deeply, he wanted nothing more than for Daichi to disappear from his life completely- the sting of his words cutting deep. But more than that he hated how much he enjoyed hearing it from him. 

“You’re a fucking asshole, Daichi,” Suga replied, his eyes watery as he raised his leg to wrap around his friend, following with the other until he was being lifted against the wall.

“I’ll tell you one more time before this conversations over,” Daichi responded, raising his friends shirt slightly. “Leave Tadashi and whoever else you’ve dragged into your escapades alone.”

Suga was blushing, looking down at Daichi with a scowl. “Fine. But fuck me this one last time and then I’m done with you too, got it?”

“I was gonna say the exact same thing to you.”


	10. Chapter 10

Sugawara cried that night. He didn’t sob, and his heartstrings didn’t contort his mind into a mess of sadness. He cried softly, one tear at a time, ignoring every message that flooded into his phone, hating himself and hating Daichi for being as mean as he was. He wondered if amongst those messages there’d be an apology, but didn’t dare to check. He knew there wouldn’t be. Daichi claimed to like Suga in the same storage room he had no problem degrading him in. And unlike that first time, his kisses felt like poison, his body was cold. 

What was the big deal anyways? Suga thought. Why does it matter if he, or Tadashi, or anyone else for that matter, enjoyed something that Daichi detested? He supposed that was just the kind of person Daichi was deep down- too set in his own ways that people would either have to adapt to him or leave. And Suga, knowing full well what was best for him, knew that he’d rather be what Daichi wanted than be alone. That thought made Suga cry much more. Maybe he really was nothing, just an aimless boy destined for- 

Ringing cut out his sombre thoughts and he turned around to face his phone where an incoming call caught him by surprise. The devil himself ringing. It was 1am, much to Sugas surprise, which meant that he’d been laying in bed feeling sorry for himself for hours at that point. He wondered if Daichi should be ignored, but against his better instinct he picked up. 

“What do you want?” Suga asked dryly, trying his best to sound normal. 

“I wanted to apologise?” Daichi began. He sounded hoarse too, and Suga had to wonder if he’d been crying as well.

“For what? Telling me I’m going to fail at life or using me for my body like your own personal toy?” Suga replied with a snap. Daichi went silent for a moment. 

“For both. I was just angry, and I didn’t know what I was saying-“

“You were angry so you said exactly what you thought of me,” Suga replied monotonously, emotions still and cold. “I might have it wrong since I’ve apparently smoked my brains away, but if I do recall what you think of me, its that I’m nothing but a fuckup who doesn’t know what they’re doing with their life and would rather ‘slut myself out to whoever would take me’.”

“I… I said that?” Daichi asked, practically in shock.

“Look whose playing dumb now. You can try and make things better, but I’m never going to be the person you want me to be.”

“I don’t want you to be anyone else,” Daichi began before getting cut off once more.

“You can try flatter me, but don’t lie to me Daichi… Don’t lie to yourself, either,” Suga scowled, hanging the phone up and planting his face in his pillow. 

Why did life have to be so tedious? He asked himself, before rolling back over to his bedside table, and lighting the only thing that made sense to him in that moment. Walking to the window with a joint in hand, Sugawara decided to pick up his messages, flicking through the various concerns from Tanaka, Noya and of course, Tadashi. Tiredly, he tossed the phone back and looked out onto the sky. 

“One things for certain, I’m going to be so much more than Daichi.”

—

The weekend was long, yet tense. Tadashi didn’t hear back from his senior at once, despite how hard he tried to contact him. It was hard to do much else while he was so concerned for his friend. He wanted to know what happened after practice, and how Suga felt. More than that- he wanted to say sorry for even speaking about it in the first place. He wasn’t sure if Suga would be angry or not, and the second years couldn’t shed light on it either. They seemed to be in the clear, as far as they knew, and so their concerns were much like Tadashis in that they only cared to know how Suga was. 

“Do you think Daichi killed him?” Tadashi asked as he rested his chin on Tsukishima shoulder. The taller boy was playing a video game on the floor with his friend wrapped behind him. 

“I don’t think that Daichi killed him, I think he probably got into trouble and isn’t in the mood to be talking to some first year about it,” Tsukki replied mindlessly. 

“Oh okay… Do you think Suga hates me now?”

No response.

“Well then do you think that I’m going to get in trouble? What if they kick me off the team?”

Silence. Tsukki was so focused on his game he barely processed a word of what Tadashi said. In frustration Tadashi swiftly pulled Tsukkis glasses off, gently sliding them under the bed. 

“Dash! What was that for, I’m gonna lose!” Tsukki said, scrambling closer to the TV to try and refocus. He continued on for as long as he could before he inevitably got killed, turning angrily to his best friend. Tadashi quickly jumped onto the bed and threw a blanket over himself in a weak attempt at protection, screaming in fear as he felt various whacks come at him from above. The weight of Tsukki on the bed made Tadashi roll closer to him, groaning in pain as Tsukki roughhoused the boy whose body was lost under a heap of blankets.

“Come out of there you little rat and say sorry!” Tsukki complained loudly, receiving an indistinct yell back from his mom in the other room.

“You say sorry for ignoring me first!” Tadashi replied, making a ball of himself and the blanket and then popping his head out to look at his friend. 

“You were the one talking when I was clearly playing a game! I don’t even know what you said!” Tsukki replied.

“Then you don’t get a sorry!” Tadashi snapped back, digging his head back into the ball of blankets and pillows. Sighing Tsukki moved from the bed and recovered his glasses, smiling knowing that Tadashi didn’t let the glass scrape the ground. From outside, he heard another indistinct yell from his mother and decided to investigate.

He walked out his room and down the short set of stairs to where she stood in the kitchen, a familiar figure there with her. Hands behind his back and a soft smile in his face, Daichi turned to greet his junior. 

“Hey Tsukishima. I was wondering if Yamaguchi was here, would I be able to speak to him?” Daichi asked. Tsukki couldn’t quite place the look in his face, but he seemed more tired than usual.

“He’s not here,” Tsukki replied, turning to go back to his room.

“Now there’s no need to be rude, or to lie, to your senior. If Tadashis asleep just wake him up honey, I’m sure he won’t mind,” Tsukkis mom replied. Sighing, Tsukki nodded and headed back up to retrieve his friend. Back in the bedroom, he was still laying down covered in blankets, playing the game of pretend hurt. 

Tsukki sighed, knowing it would not be easy for him to ease his friends mind at all. He leaned over and pulled the blanket from Tadashis face, receiving a scowl in return. 

“Hey dude, don’t freak out but Daichis downstairs and says he wants to talk,” Tsukki said blatantly as he watched his friends face go from angry to scared within a matter of a split second.

“W-what?” Tadashi began, eyes wide as he sat up. “I can’t do that.”

“You’re going to have to- come on take my hand,” Tsukki replied, pulling his friend up and dragging him out the door. Tadashis hand felt tight over his, but fell completely when they reached the bottom of the stairs. While he would have liked to hold Tsukkis hand throughout the entire situation, he knew that wasn’t an option for them. “Here’s the sleepyhead.” Tsukki said as they got to the bottom.

“Hey Yamaguchi. Sorry for stopping by on a weekend by the way, I just really needed to talk to you about the team - nothing bad, of course,” Daichi smiled. Even Tadashi thought he seemed to be tired. 

“Can Tsukki come?” Tadashi asked as the two followed Daichi to the door.

“Uhh well,” he began, before looking back to Tsukki, whose face told him that there was only one answer to that question. “Yeah, of course.”

The three walked out of the Tsukishima’s house and stood in a group by his front gate. None seemed eager to break the silence, but as the eldest and one to call on them, Daichi finally spoke. 

“I’m sorry,” Daichi said. Both Tsukki and Tadashi looked at their senior in surprise, the green haired boys chest clenching. “Its not my place to tell you what to do in your spare time… As, worrying as those activities may be. I don’t condone it, but you’re your own people outside of the team, and as long as you aren’t getting slowed down there’s no reason for me to hold anything against you. I hope we can move on from this.”

“Why are you apologising?” Tsukki asked before Tadashi could open his mouth. The shorter first year looked up at his friend in disbelief, mouth agape. “Its not like you’re in the wrong. You didn’t yell at us on Friday at all- in fact you didn’t say much to Tadashi at all… So why are you apologising?”

Daichi was dumbfounded. His face was completely red and he had to take a step back to process what Tsukki was saying. While it took a moment for Tadashi to catch on, the picture seemed to become clearer and clearer for him too. 

“Maybe instead of coming here to apologise to Tadashi for nothing, you should go apologise to Suga… Don’t you think?” Tsukki continued.

“I don’t think you know what you’re saying, Tsukishima,” Daichi finally mustered in response. He was taken aback, but he was not going to stand for blatant disrespect from his younger. 

“I think you know exactly what you’re saying, but its not my place to be in this conversation at all. Come in when you’re ready, Dashi, I’ll make us an omelette,” and with that, Tsukishima was gone back inside. Tadashi stood even more tensely than he had before. It was just like Tsukki to offend someone then walk away, but that someone was their captain and Tadashi feared for the worst. 

Sighing after a moment of silence, Daichi turned with his back to the house and his junior. “Tsukki is right, but he needs to fix that attitude. I’ll see you guys on Monday, don’t be scared okay?”

“Okay!” Tadashi shouted back quickly, scrambling to get back inside and put an end to the nightmare of that interaction. Once inside, he could see Tsukki alone in the kitchen chopping some herbs up as if he didn’t just sass their volleyball captain. “What is WRONG with you?!” Tadashi whined.

Tsukki looked up and cocked his head in fake confusion. 

“Why would you say that to Daichi! He’s already so scary and we’re already in so much trouble-“ Tadashi rambled as he walked into the kitchen to help

“Correction- you’re in so much trouble, I’m just getting payback because someone ruined my game earlier,” Tsukki replied, cutting up the shallots. 

Tadashi whined once more. “Your game?! Thats what this is about?” He rested his face against his friends back and quickly hugged around his waist from behind before going to the kitchen to retrieve eggs.

“Well that and also… I’m not going to let anyone use you as their way of making themselves feel better. It was obvious Daichi must have said something to Suga, and saying sorry to you was his own way of making himself feel better. Thats low.”

“You must really like Suga, huh,” Tadashi said, knowing his best friend well enough to know he wouldn’t do that for just anyone, then grinned widely as he followed. “Or just really love me.”

“I certainly prefer him over most of our teammates,” was all Tsukki managed in response. “It’ll be amusing to see how things are come Monday.”

“That it will be,” Tadashi replied as he stood next to Tsukki. Quickly, while nobody was around to see, Tsukki leaned down and kissed Tadashis head before the two returned to their cooking. 

—

Sugawara was looking down at his street idly from his bedroom window. He had been hard at work studying, an easy enough distraction from all the pain he was bottling up inside, when he caught sight of the person he wanted to see least in the world. Daichi was frowning as he approached Sugas home- the kind of frown that he does when he’s thinking. As he got closer, the brunette looked up from the street right at Sugawara, their eyes locking from the distance, before continuing on to the front door. Suga could hear it ring from his bedroom. It was directly below his room, so of course he could. Before his father or mother could open the door, he shot out of his seat and raced to the bottom of the stairs.

“Koshi isn’t taking visitors at the moment!” Suga said in a fake high pitched voice.

“I know its you, Suga. Come out, please… I wanna apologise,” Daichi replied in a deep sigh.

“Koshi said there’s nothing to apologise for, because there’s nothing you’re sorry about. Koshi also said you’re a prick,” Suga said back, continuing on with the high pitched voice to hide how fragile he actually was. 

“Suga… I’m being serious. I’m sorry.”

“I’m being serious too, and I know you’re not,” Suga finally broke, opening the door to face the boy. Daichi looked the same as always, just slightly more tired. He was still as beautiful and kind looking as he was the day they first revealed their true feelings to each other. “You’re sorry that you let those things slip, and you’re sorry I got hurt. But that’s not the same and you know it. You’re a dick, Daichi. Plain and simple.”

“You know I’m not…” Daichi began, before trailing off. “You know me Suga.”

“Fuck off with that rom-com bullshit, Daichi. I don’t know you at all. I thought I did, and I thought you knew me too. I thought after three years we were actually friends, and after everything else we could even be lovers… But that’ll never happen, will it? Because I’m apparently some- some shell of a person, right?”

Sugawara’s tears were pouring down his face. He was so angry, but so sad, and all Daichi could do was watch and let his own tears fall down too. Daichi moved forward to hug him, but the silver haired boy quickly took a step back in avoidance. 

“Suga… Please, please believe me.” Daichi said softly, his eyes pouring out just as much as Sugas were. 

“And then what? Pretend like you didn’t say that to me, like you don’t believe it when you clearly do? Or maybe I’ll quit smoking, and become a doctor or a lawyer because I have the grades to do that, and we’ll live happily ever after because I’ll have done everything you wanted me to do? How about that, Daichi?”

“I should have never of said any of that, and you need to believe me when I say I didn’t mean it. You, every part of you, is my friend. It was never my place to tell you to be anything less than yourself, but I got it in my head that it was somehow my job and… And it got overboard-“

“You called me a whore!” Suga shouted, pushing him back. “Maybe this tactic works on the other people you’ve done it on, because it certainly feels rehearsed, but I’m not dumb enough to let you back into my life!” Sugawara slammed the door shut right into Daichis face, receiving a yell from his parents in the other room, before opening it once more to face him. “Oh and by the way I’ll be resigning as both vice-captain AND a team member on Monday. Have fun at the spring tournament, asshole.” 

And with that, the confrontation was over. Suga was back to being alone in his room and Daichi went on his way back home, feeling even worse than he had before. As he strolled along the now dimming streets of Sugas area, he couldn’t help but think back to everything he’d said to Suga. He knew he went overboard with it, but at the same time he knew he didn’t mean it. A part of Daichi wanted to call Suga annoying for making things so difficult, but this was Daichis fault to carry on his own and he knew it… Frankly the only thing he didn’t know was what would come of Mondays practice. He couldn’t let Suga actually leave the team? The team wouldn’t let Suga do that either, would they? Well, if Suga felt the need to explain the situation they’d all soon understand, and Daichi felt as though he’d never been more hated in his entire life. Groaning, the brunette rubbed his eyes furiously in exhaustion. 

“Stupid, stupid, stupid Sawamura,” he mumbled to himself as he continued on his way, praying for the first time in his life that training would somehow be cancelled.


End file.
